


A Week in a Hotel

by bluekujira



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: AU, Alfred is a graduate student, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arthur being cute, Blow Jobs, Blushing dorks, Bottom Arthur, Bottom England, Doggy Style, Hand Jobs, Happy Ending, Hotel Sex, Inspired by a prompt, Kissing, M/M, Making Love, Making Out, Masturbation, Masturbation in Bathroom, NSFW, Photography, Pining, Pining Alfred, Pining Arthur, Sappy Ending, Slightly - Freeform, Smut, Strangers at first, arthur is an editor, francis is a good friend not a flirty bastard who tries to intervene, hotel room, i dont think i've put enough tags lol, i spent 20 years thinking of a title for this, jealous alfred, mentions of - Freeform, non nations, on tumblr, shittemore, spamano - Freeform, um, working on getting his masters, working on his dissertation, zombiepurplefox
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-03-31 22:50:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3996052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluekujira/pseuds/bluekujira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a fanfiction I wrote for my friend (zombiepurplefox on tumblr) based off a prompt she sent me! </p><p>I apologize for any errors I did go back an edit this but I still might have missed stuff! </p><p>Also I changed the prompt slightly. Instead of living together they stay in a hotel together.</p><p>The Prompt: 'You live in the apartment above me and your water pipes burst and is flooding into my apartment and you can hear me yelling so you come down to my apartment to see what's going on and witness me standing in my kitchen/bathroom/whatever, holding an umbrella, screaming at the water pouring out of my ceiling and crying because I have no idea what to do and we both just kinda stand there in shock as my stuff gets ruined and you let me crash at your place til my place gets fixed cause you feel bad' (CREDIT TO shittemore on tumblr for this prompt)</p><p>Here's a link to the prompts as well: http://shittemore.tumblr.com/post/111899042387/some-neighbor-aus</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Was that… screaming? Arthur could hear the faint screams of someone who was either being murdered, was singing, or just had a lot to get off their chest. The possibilities were endless. Some part of him watched as his bathroom slowly filled with water, a pipe spewing into the shower and soaking the walls. Another part of him started to connect the busted pipe with the screaming from the apartment below, seeing as how the screaming got louder when you walked closer to the busted pipe and quieter when you left the bathroom. Arthur honestly considered shutting the door and leaving and hoping when he came back it would be finished, but being an adult meant responsibility, and responsibility meant calling maintenance and going downstairs to make sure the person in the apartment below you hadn’t drowned.

 

He phoned maintenance, sighing while he tried to explain to the person what had happened. They said they would send somebody over as soon as they could. Arthur let them know he would be downstairs checking on the person below and explaining that they would probably also need someone to come check things out for the downstairs neighbor in addition. There may have potentially been a small leak.

 

Arthur hung up and got his keys and headed down. Each floor to the apartment was set up in the same blocks (so you could easily find out who was above and below you if you wanted to beat the shit out of them for playing their music too loudly at one am), and each had the same number, except the higher up you went it added a letter to it. For example, his apartment was C-6. The apartment of the person screaming (and now additionally sobbing), who was directly below him, was in B-6. Arthur knocked on the door but he didn’t think they’d heard him because they hadn’t stopped crying. Arthur knocked again louder and when the door opened a very drenched guy opened the door.

 

The first thing Arthur saw was a soaked T-shirt that clung to a body that looked like it belonged to a model who worked out and lifted weights and didn’t sit around in his boxers shoveling Jaffa cakes into his mouth. Which Arthur totally didn’t do. Ever. The next thing Arthur noticed that not only was the poor guy soaked he also appeared to be actually crying.

 

“A-are you all right?” Arthur asked, shocked.

 

He nodded and wiped at his face. “I-I-My…” He was attempting to wipe his glasses off but seeing as how his shirt was soaked as well it made it a bit more difficult. Arthur noticed the guy was also holding an umbrella in his other hand and wondered if the leak was really that bad.

 

“Let me help,” he offered, taking the glasses from cold hands. Arthur dried the glasses off for him and handed them back. “Er… how bad is it?”

 

The guy sniffed. “It’s… it’s pretty bad I mean not really I mean IT’S AWFUL WHAT HAPPENED WHYYY???”

 

Arthur’s eyes widened. He peeked past the guy and into the room. He couldn’t actually see anything from where he was standing. “Calm down, please. I called maintenance and they’ll be over shortly…” He fidgeted a bit.

 

The guy was openly sobbing again and Arthur wondered if he would also need to call a counselor. _“They’re all ruined!!!”_ He suddenly seemed to snap back into focus. “This is  _your_  fault!”

 

"Er well-” Arthur was about to explain to him how it had happened and promise they would fixed things up but the guy suddenly was pulling him into his apartment.

_Oh my god he’s going to pull me in here and beat the shit out of me. He’s a maniac. He’s going to sob and cry while beating me to death. I cannot believe this is how I’m going to die._

 

He fortunately didn’t kill Arthur but instead brought him to the scene of the crime. It was a small room that had been converted into a wet darkroom. Although the rain brought a new meaning to the word wet darkroom, and honestly Arthur wanted to bust out laughing right then and there. There were little bins of the chemicals, and photographs hanging from lines. Rain was coming from the ceiling and pouring into the room and it honestly looked like something from a horror movie with the way the red lights lit the room.

 

“Oh…”

 

“MY PHOTOGRAPHS. MY THESIS. MY GRADUATION. MY CAREER.”

 

Arthur was pretty sure this guy was going to hyperventilate here in just a few seconds. He would offer him a paper bag if it wasn’t raining and also if he had one. He took his hand and led him back out of the room, feeling really really bad because this was really his fault.

 

“Hey hey… It’s all right,” he murmured, patting the guy awkwardly on the shoulder and taking the umbrella out of his hand, leaning it against a wall. It clearly wasn’t all right but Arthur was trying to move past this. This guy had probably lost a lot effort and time and work all in a few minutes. It honestly wasn’t fair. “Hey what’s your name…? I’m Arthur. I’m honestly very sorry about this situation…” He shut the door to the room, thinking maybe it would help the crying man calm down a bit not to see his lifetime work being ruined. “Is there water leaking from anywhere else?” he asked, wanting to know all the places in case he’d missed something in his own apartment, and so he could fill the maintenance person in. He checked his phone to make sure nobody had tried to call him yet.

 

The guy sniffed and led him into a bedroom. There was water pooling in the ceiling, and  Arthur could see from the wet spot forming there that is was making a sort of downward bulge. It wasn’t coming out like a sprinkler though at least. “Well now… Shall we move your dresser out of the way?” He moved to the other side of it to get ready to lift it. The guy joined him and they shifted the dresser to a safe spot away from the water.

 

The process of clearing his things out of the way seemed to calm the guy down. Pretty soon they had everything pushed to one side of the room and by then the maintenance person was calling Arthur.

 

“It’s in between apartment C-6 and B-6,” Arthur explained to the woman, standing near the entrance of B-6. She looked young but yet experienced enough. “I’ll let you know when I’m done assessing everything,” she said, handing him a business card. Arthur glanced at her name on the card - _Natalya Arlovskaya_.

 

She started to get to work, leaving Arthur standing where he was. After a few minutes Arthur left to go find the guy whose apartment he was in. He was in the kitchen, sitting at a small table for two by himself. Arthur decided to sit with him while they waited.

 

It was probably about twenty minutes later when he’d stopped crying finally, but he still hadn’t told Arthur his name. He looked like hell. Arthur assumed one would be. He couldn’t imagine coming home to find something like his bookshelf completely soaked and ruined. Alright so that wasn’t exactly the same thing but still- he’d be heartbroken.

 

“It’s Alfred,” the guy mumbled.

 

“Alfred?” Arthur repeated, making sure he got it right.

 

Alfred nodded. His hair was drying now and Arthur noticed one piece was sticking up. Arthur had yet to see the guy around the apartment before, but that was probably to be expected because he’d just moved in about a week ago. Arthur wondered if the other tenants had similar problems with Alfred crying hysterically.

 

“How did it happen?” Alfred asked.

 

“Well I assume it was rusty and old and too much strain and pressure on it caused it to go. I hope it’s not that bad and they can fix it up quickly… maybe help you salvage some of your things….. If only…” Arthur trailed off.

 

“If only…?”

 

Arthur sighed. If he thought he’d escaped nearly dying earlier there was no way he was going to make it out of here now once he admitted why the pipe burst. He could only hope that Natalya would hear his screams and come to his rescue. She could use one of her tools to take Alfred out and then-

 

“Arthur?”

 

Arthur swallowed. “Well…. er… You see Alfred, money’s been really tight recently for me. I just moved in a week ago, so there were fees for the security deposit and first month’s rent, and I had to pay fees to end my lease early at my other place for… other reasons… and, the moving truck costed and so… Well… I…” Arthur rung his hands, scooting his seat a bit farther away from Alfred. “I noticed that the pipes in my bathroom were groaning and making odd noises, and I didn’t want to pay for someone to come and fix them so I thought I’d try my hand at patching things up on my own and then-“

 

“You didn’t,” Alfred said suddenly, face paling. He looked like his day couldn’t possibly get any worse. Arthur leaned back in his chair, putting more distance between the two of them. “Tell me you didn’t… you… oh. my. god.” Alfred was suddenly reaching across the table. Arthur jumped and shrieked as Alfred grabbed his shoulders. This was the end. “WHY DID YOU TRY TO FIX IT ON YOUR OWN? ARE YOU A PLUMBER?”

 

Arthur sat frozen in his seat.

 

“ANSWER ME.”

 

Arthur shook his head.

 

“DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FIXING PIPES?”

 

Arthur shook his head again.

 

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING YOU IDIOT?”

 

Arthur really deserved all of this. Probably a good punch in the face too. Alfred had every right to be angry with him. He couldn’t take his eyes off Alfred’s, though, stuck frozen waiting for him to unleash the rest of his fury and anger. When Alfred didn’t though Arthur was shocked. He watched Alfred sink back into his chair, putting his face into his hands.

 

“You shouldn’t have tried to fix it on your own, Arthur,” Alfred said. Arthur felt as if he were a child again with an adult scolding him. Where had the anger and fire gone though?

 

“Y-you’re right,” he agreed, heart beating too quickly.

 

“Aw man…” Alfred groaned. “Look I don’t like yelling at people. It’s not cool. You seem like a nice enough guy, coming down here and all to take responsibility, and telling me that. You were obviously concerned enough about money… you wouldn’t have done this if you hadn’t of been- hopefully… And you couldn’t have known it was right above my darkroom… And… and…” Alfred looked like he was trying to convince himself of these facts more so than Arthur, maybe to keep his sanity in check. “Man… it’s going to take so long to get everything dry again and cleaned up and ughhh….”

 

Arthur wondered if Alfred was going to start crying again. “I’ll help you,” he said, not knowing if Alfred wanted his help or if Alfred never wanted to see him again. “And I’ll cover any of the fees and… whatever you need,” Arthur replied.

 

Alfred didn’t say anything to him for the remainder of the time that they waited. Arthur could see the sky darkening into early evening. His stomach grumbled a bit and even then he didn’t move and Alfred didn’t say anything. Natalya came back in, wiping her hands off on her pants.

 

“I got most of it stopped up upstairs but I had to cut the electricity to both yours and his apartment. In addition, you’re going to have to have someone come in to clean up the water. Luckily for you-“ she said to Arthur “gravity exists, so most of the water seeped right down into this guy’s apartment, unfortunately for him. Most of the damage was strictly to your bathroom,” she said again to Arthur, “which is good because bathrooms are more adapt for water. You’ll just need mainly to check the walls and such. For now we’ll need to keep the electricity off to make sure everything’s all right. As you should know, wires and water don’t mix too well. You’ll most likely need to find another place to stay because this could take anywhere from a couple of days to a week to fix up. Do you have family in the area you can stay with?”

 

Both Arthur and Alfred shook their heads. Arthur’s mind was having trouble keeping up with how much money all of this would cost when it was over. And if Alfred was still in school working on his dissertation, he probably didn’t have much money either. Arthur didn't even know anyone he could borrow money from.

 

“Well then I suggest you check into a hotel or figure something else out. As for today’s service, who will I be sending the bill to?”

 

“Me,” Arthur said. “Any of the costs for repairs and damages please charge to me.”

 

“If you’ve made a security deposit to this apartment that can help you in covering some of the repair fees,” Natalya said.

 

Arthur nodded. “Can you please recommend a company to me that helps cleanup and such like this?” he asked, standing up. Natalya nodded and ushered him over. Arthur and her spoke briefly for a bit as she gave him some company names, numbers, and a few business cards. “If you mention my name maybe they will give you discount,” she said. Arthur thanked her profusely and by the time she headed off it was dark both outside and inside the apartment.

 

Arthur went back to the kitchen to find Alfred sitting at the kitchen table. He’d finally changed out of his wet clothes into warmer, dry ones.

 

“Are you hungry?” Arthur asked.

 

Alfred was slow to respond. He took his time lifting his head from his hands and nodded. “Sure…”

 

“C’mon,” Arthur murmured. “I’ll treat you to something.”

 

“You don’t have to do that,” Alfred said.

 

“I know. I want to.”

 

Alfred got out of the chair and he grabbed his keys. He headed out of the apartment, shut, and locked the door, Arthur following behind him. Once he’d made sure the door was locked properly he turned to Arthur.

 

“Where to?”

 


	2. Chapter Two

Arthur and Alfred were now seated at a Denny's, stuffed into a cold booth with cold air conditioning right above them. Alfred was looking at the menu and Arthur noticed looking at food seemed to be animating him a bit more. Maybe he’d warm up even more once he’d eaten. He probably just needed some sugar and food in his system to wake him up a bit. Arthur himself was impatiently waiting for their waiter to bring over a cup of coffee for him that he’d ordered. He knew it wasn’t the best to drink at night but he didn’t foresee himself going to sleep any time soon. He still needed to find a hotel, and then stop by back at his apartment to get a change of clothes, toiletries, and his things for the time he would be there. He didn’t know how long he should book his stay for, seeing as how Natalya hadn’t given him exact dates. He didn’t know if he should attempt to play it by ear and book it each night, or go for an estimate.

 

And then there was Alfred to deal with. He’d been so distraught Arthur was worried he might do something reckless, or not do anything at all. Did he have any money to stay up in a motel or hotel for a couple nights? What was his plan? Did he really have no one to help him? Why?

The waiter set down his coffee and Arthur picked it up, sipping and burning his tongue. His thoughts were so muddled and preoccupied that he hadn’t even heard the waiter ask him if they were ready. Alfred was looking at Arthur strangely and Arthur recalled that on their trip over they hadn’t spoken a word to one another. Arthur had suggested places and Alfred would lacklusterly nod or shake his head to indicate if he liked the place of not. Settling on here had been a combination of Alfred nodding his head and Arthur’s stomach rumbling loudly in the car.

“Arthur? Are you ready?” Alfred asked, pulling him once again from his thoughts.

“Hm? Oh… uh…” Arthur looked at the menu. He had no idea what he wanted. He was starving but nothing looked too appetizing. “Just… a bowl of soup…clam chowder, please,” Arthur said, eyes seeing that their soup of the day was clam chowder. He loved clam chowder.

Alfred raised an eyebrow. “Dude that’s it? Are you sure? You don’t have to pay for me you know. C’mon I heard your stomach in the car, you’re hungry, get something else.”

This was the most Arthur had heard Alfred actually speak he felt. Well, speaking that wasn’t crying or screaming. Actual conversation. He felt a bit weirded by the fact that it was so casual. As if they’d known each other for a long time now instead of just meeting because Arthur was a cheap idiot.

“Then… a Patty Melt, as well, please.”

The waiter nodded and jotted it down, collecting their menus with a smile and leaving.

Alfred seemed more pleased with Arthur’s choice. Arthur shivered again and then took another sip of his coffee.

“What did you get?” Arthur asked, trying to think up topics of conversation, but realizing he’d just basically admitted to not paying attention to Alfred at all previously. He hadn’t gone out to eat with anyone like this in a really long time. But Alfred was practically a stranger so it at least that gave him a bigger list of questions to fill the time with.

“Western Burger,” Alfred said with a forced southern drawl. “It’s got this real great sauce that I like.” Alfred glanced around the near empty restaurant. “I don’t get to come here all that often though. Except when I pull all nighters and I’m real hungry.”

“Where are you from?”

“Born and raised in Texas. Nah I’m just kidding with you. I was technically born in Florida and raised there for a bit, but around nine I moved to New York and was there until college. I went to college back down in the south in New Orleans- fantastic place by the way you should go if you haven’t the food is awesome- and now I’m here for graduate school. Wow I totally didn’t mean to tell ya my whole life there. What about you? I know that accent isn’t from the US,” Alfred said with a smile that made Arthur too flustered by, and that was the first time Arthur noticed that Alfred had a dimple in the right corner of his cheek.

It was a lot to take in.

Apparently Alfred was one to travel, though. Arthur’s extent of the US was California which was where he was now. Northern California was nice but it didn’t remind him of England at all. It was too dry.

“I was born and lived in England for most of my life.”

Alfred seemed like he was waiting for Arthur to say more. Arthur didn’t want to bore Alfred with the details though, not that he’d minded listening to Alfred speak. He just didn’t know how far to take the conversation about their personal lives.  

“Do you like it here?”

Arthur nodded slowly. Some parts of it were nice. Some of the people were nice. He missed home and his brothers but that was to be expected no matter where he went. He remembered how shocked his mother had been at him choosing such a far place. He’d always been rather independent so she’d always expected him to go off somewhere, but to leave the country…

“You said you’d just moved here a week ago…? Was that from England or from somewhere else…?” Alfred asked, taking a big gulp of his coke.

“From San Francisco. My job decided to transfer me. That’s why I came here,” Arthur said briskly, glancing up at Alfred. He took another sip of his coffee. He wasn’t trying to be purposefully short-answered but to be honest the long day was catching up with him. He yawned. He was tired and hungry and a lot of his energy felt drained. He blinked, eyelids heavy, eyes dry from the diner lighting.

The next few minutes were still with silence until Alfred decided to try to spark up the conversation again. “So what’s your job?”

“I’m an editor. For novels mostly,” Arthur responded. There was an awkward pause. Was he supposed to ask Alfred something in return? “Why did you… er, what are you studying at your university?” Arthur wondered if he should bring up Alfred’s dissertation or not? Would that send him back into his previous distraught state? Arthur didn’t want to ruin this dinner any further.

“I’m in a fine arts program for photography. I’m in my last year though and well… I’ve been working on my thesis for the entirety of my time though. Those… photographs that I was developing were an accumulation of a specific part of my thesis that I’ve been collecting for a few years now but… well… Technically I could most likely redo most of them in context,” Alfred sort of gave a little hysterical laugh at the idea of that, “but it’s just… it wouldn’t be as thought out as it was before. It’d be rushed- years of work into two months? That would looked so half-assed. And it’s just… it’s like… losing those photographs… They were one of a kind you know?”

Arthur nodded, feeling a bit like a useless piece of shit again. He seemed to cycle back to this feeling a lot. “I’m sorry,” he apologized again. “I really… I really can’t make it up to you, I know… But I am truly sorry.”

Alfred smiled a bit sadly. “I know you mean it. It’s all right.”

Their sad little moment was interrupted by the waiter returning with their burgers and Arthur’s chowder. “Let me know if you need anything else,” the waiter said before walking away to attend to another table. Arthur crumbled up the crackers into his chowder and spooned a bite into his mouth. It wasn’t very hot or very good so he was a little disappointed. He watched Alfred take a rather big bite out of his burger, some of the sauce dropping onto his plate. Alfred scraped it up with a fry. Arthur had never seen somebody… consume food like Alfred did. He didn’t want to stare at him so he grabbed a knife and fork and started to work on his patty. He knocked the top bun off, cutting off a little bit and put it into his mouth to chew slowly. The onions tasted nice but there was a bit too much cheese.

“Dude what are you doing?” Arthur looked up and Alfred was watching him. He mockingly grabbed a fork and knife, posing them over his burger. “Who eats with a fork and a knife? Burgers are for hands. And what ‘bout your top bun? You knocked it off.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “I don’t like messy hands and there’s too much bread with the top and bottom bun. One is enough.”

This time Alfred rolled his eyes. He eyed Arthur’s plate again. “You gonna eat your fries?”

Arthur was beginning to get a sense of what kind of person Alfred was more and more. He was definitely a food guy. Arthur had no doubt in his mind that Alfred probably ate and ate and ate all the time. But how he had that sort of build Arthur had no idea. Maybe it was because he worked out so much that he needed the calories? But he was in a fine arts school. Not on some football sports scholarship. It didn’t make any sense to Arthur.

 

He pushed his fries towards Alfred, signaling he could go ahead. Alfred gave a little triumphant yes and shoveled some onto his plate.

“So, Artie,” Alfred said, a fry hanging out of his mouth.

“Arthur,” Arthur corrected.

“You obviously don’t have anyone to stay with- well, I’m assuming your family is from England and I’m assuming you don’t have any friends in the area. I’ve got some friends but none that could hook me up with a place to sleep for the night, so what do ya say you and I book a hotel room together?”

“What? Together? Why?”

“We can cut the cost in half for both of us. Look saving money right there. You're poor and I’m poor so I think it’s a good idea if we can do something like that.”

“We don’t know each other.”

“Well I’ve lived under you for a week now and I haven’t heard you murder anyone and you haven’t heard me murder anyone so I think we’re safe on that point. Also, while we’re booked up at a hotel we can get to know each other. That’s what conversation is all about. Plus you need to make some friends here- being new and all. I’m a very social guy, I feel. I can help you out. Plus, _you_ can help _me_ out like you promised to do. It won’t even cost you anything extra- well, it will but you get what I mean right? Look it’s beneficial for both of us, cost effective, blah blah yeah so…”

Alfred looked so hopeful that Arthur wanted to agree right away. He just didn’t know how to politely turn him down when he’d made some good points. It _would_ save him money and it would help Alfred out. Arthur wasn’t too keen on making friends though, not yet anyway. He needed more time to adjust to this place before he was off looking for friendships. What if he didn’t like it here and wanted to move again? He’d just have to leave all those “friends” behind.

“I don’t think you should worry about finding me friends. I’m really all right the way things are. I think you should really be focusing on what you’re going to do now for your thesis. I also think I need to be focusing on what I’m going to do about our apartments and the costs that’s going to take.” Arthur paused to collect his thoughts. Was he really going to do this? Why? What was wrong with him? Why did he always ask himself so many questions? “I suppose… for a little bit…… it will be all right to stay together.”

  
Alfred brightened and smiled at him, polishing off the last of his burger. Arthur finished his own quickly, sighing inwardly. He was about to spend about a week with a guy he’d just met today. What was he getting himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 Notes: I don’t know shit about darkrooms or how photography development works? So I don’t know if Alfred would technically have any backup films or negatives of his photographs but we’re just going to assume for the sake of this fanfiction that he doesn’t okay?? 
> 
> Also thank you all for the comments on chapter 1! : O I really love comments the most! 
> 
> Sorry again for any mistakes made!


	3. Chapter Three

Getting the hotel had been easy enough. They picked a decent but cheap one. One they knew wouldn’t give them bed bugs or many problems, yet they didn’t splurge too much either. It’d been so late when they finally collapsed on their separate beds that Arthur could barely push himself off the bed long enough to actually go brush his teeth and wash his face.

Waking up was probably the worst and best part of his life. It was still rather dark in the hotel room, but there was light spilling in between the cracks of the heavy dark green blinds. He could hear signs of life from out in the hallway of families and people finding their way to the breakfast bar, and he could see standing above him a wonderfully naked and gorgeous man.

What the fuck.

Arthur suddenly sat up, scaring the man- Alfred, away. Arthur was disappointed to find out he wasn’t naked and was wearing sweat pants still, and even more disappointed to realize it was just Alfred and not some dream guy ready to get down and dirty with him. Arthur rubbed his eyes, groaning. “What is it…?” he asked, glaring at Alfred who was grinning. It looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“You have awful bed hair. It’s cute.”

Arthur covered his face, feeling his skin heat. Had Alfred really honestly called him cute? What was that? “It’s not cute,” he said. What a lame comeback. “Why were you standing above me while I was sleeping?” he asked, lowering his hands.

“You told me to wake you up if the alarm didn’t go off… And the alarm’s gone off twice now so…”

Arthur snapped his focus to bedside clock. Shit. “Oh bl- fuck I’m late.” He immediately tried to yank the covers off of himself, legs tangled in sheets. He was practically drenched in sweat. It was too hot in this hotel room. He’d been so cold at the dinner that when they’d gotten to the hotel he’d cranked up the heat. He stumbled out of the bed, still needing to shower and get ready and fuck. Alfred moved out of the way for him, laughing.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” he called after him.

Arthur shut himself in the bathroom, taking a moment to look at himself in the mirror. He was trying to decide if he honestly and truly needed a shower. The baggy eyes, mussed up hair, and fuzzy eyebrows told him yes. He was still a bit pink from the blush. Did Alfred honestly think he was cute? Was he cute? Was the strands of hair poking from his head endearing to Alfred? Was this just something Alfred said to people, being the sociable guy he was?

Arthur frowned and furrowed his brows. “Stupid stupid…” This was no time to be fawning over the guy Arthur was sharing a hotel room with. They were in too close of quarters. Well… Arthur wouldn’t mind being in closer quarters with someone like Alfred… He shook his head. Even if Alfred did like guys there was no way he’d be interested in the guy who ruined his entire graduate school career because he didn’t want to pay for someone to come look at pipes.

He showered quickly, gave a short goodbye to Alfred, and ran out of the hotel.

\--

At work Arthur found himself more distracted than usual. When he went on break he phoned a few of the companies Natalya had given him and once he’d set up some times and explained the details he went off to get lunch.

 

He was getting handed his food when he heard his name being called. He glanced over and saw who it was calling him- Francis, a previous co-worker of his, with Antonio, the editor’s main author. They two of them walked up to Arthur. Francis was smiling happily, Antonio pleasantly. Arthur didn’t know Antonio as well but he did know his boyfriend, an Italian chef who ran a bakery in San Francisco a block from Arthur’s previous apartment. He missed the bakery.

 

“Francis? What are you doing here? Hello Antonio,” Arthur greeted.

Antonio nodded. 

“We have a meeting in the area,” Francis explained. “ And editor from your new department arranged a meeting for a collaboration between Antonio and another author, and we agreed to come up and meet at restaurant nearby. I had hoped to get in touch with you if you were not busy. How is life outside of San Francisco?”

 

Arthur didn’t think he had time to fully explain all that had happened in the past week of living here.

 

“Well… why don’t we meet up tomorrow? If you’re still in town, that is.”

“Of course, of course! Anything for you!” He suddenly pulled Arthur into a short hug, kissing his cheek. “I do miss not having you and your eyebrows around to keep me company!”

 

Arthur rolled his eyes, flicking Francis in the arm. “Ha ha, funny,” he said dryly. He couldn’t be too mad at Francis though. They’d known each other since high school, and Francis had always been making jokes about Arthur’s eyebrows. He’d just gotten used to it. It really only upset him when people he didn’t know made comments about them. They really stood out on his face, and it made him self-conscious. He knew he could probably get them waxed and trimmed down but… But some part of didn’t want to lose the fight with his eyebrows. Also Francis would never let him live it down if he did.

Also Arthur was terrified that the people would accidentally shave his eyebrows completely off. It wasn’t all or none. Arthur wanted eyebrows so he had to settle with what he had.

“Just give me a call tomorrow,” he said to Francis. The other nodded.

“It was nice seeing you again Antonio, and good luck with the collaboration.”

“Thank you.”

Francis waved and called goodbye and whisked Antonio away.

\--

Later back at the hotel Arthur entered to find Alfred had left. He assumed he was probably away at his classes, or maybe out with friends. He wondered if he should try to buy some more groceries for the room so he wouldn’t have to eat out for every meal. He’d taken what he could from his fridge back at the apartment so it didn’t spoil. Luckily he hadn’t accumulated too many groceries from only being there a week. Alfred hadn’t had too many either, probably due to a poor college student’s diet. That burger was probably the first “real” food Alfred had had in a while, and not some packaged noodles.

Arthur took off his blazer, hanging it in the little front closet. He shrugged off his shoes and neatly lined them up, then headed over to his bed. He glanced at Alfred’s side of the room. There were clothes laying across the floor and the bed. Arthur frowned. He wasn’t exactly bothered by messes but he knew that messes accumulated very quickly. What was little now could be a lot bigger by the end of their stay, and he didn’t want to have more to clean when it was time for them to check out.

He began picking up some of Alfred’s things and folding them, humming to himself as he laid them neatly in the dresser. He was muttering to himself as he straightened and made the bed, then stopped midway, realizing exactly what it was he was doing. Here he was cleaning up after Alfred like… like they’d known each other, like… like they were together or something. Oh lord. He panicked and was going to start unmaking the bed and mess it up a bit when he heard the beep of the door unlocking, and then Alfred was strutting in.

“Oh hey Arthur, good you’re here. Hey about- oh…” Alfred stopped, looking at where Arthur was. Arthur had about a thousand years of explanations run through his head in about two seconds, panic making him freeze up. “Hey you made my bed for me,” Alfred grinned. “Thanks!” He kicked his shoes off and Arthur frowned a bit. That wasn’t the response he’d expected. “Sorry I’m not exactly clean… I’ll try to keep my stuff picked up if it bothers you. I’m just so distracted most of the time I don’t really notice these things or I forget about them easily.”

Arthur relaxed a bit. “What were you saying when you walked in?”  
  


“What was I… Oh right! I wanted to let you know that I’m going to be heading out around 8 tonight to meet up with some people for this… Well it’s like a club. But I’m eating with them and we’ll probably be late, so don’t wait up for me all right? You get your sleep, you hear? You still look pretty tired.”

“Oh… All right. That’s nice, I will.” Arthur wanted to go to bed early tonight. Maybe he could get a bit of reading in of the new draft he’d been given a couple days ago. The story this time was really interesting, and the author’s writing style was very inspired. Arthur was happy to be a part of the process.

Arthur moved around the bed, heading back to his. He sat on the edge of it, pulling out his cell phone to read through his emails. Alfred moved around the room, grabbing a package of Ritz peanut butter crackers and munching on them.

“Do you mind if I turn on the TV?” he asked.

“Huh?” Arthur glanced up. “Oh yes, that’s fine.”  
  
Alfred located the remote and TV channel guide and started flipping through. Arthur collected his laptop and set himself up at the desk near the window, connecting himself to the internet. He sat and clacked away at the keys, vaguely hearing the TV (what appeared to be a cooking show) in the background, as he replied to some emails for work.

“Any news from the maintenance people?” Alfred asked.

Arthur shook his head. “Hmm…. no…” He read through his email before hitting send. He closed the tab before looking at Alfred. “No sorry. Hopefully soon,” he offered, smiling a bit. He looked back at his computer screen, wondering if he should check the recent news or if he should get some food. He realized only after glancing over at the screen that Alfred wasn’t watching TV anymore, but was still looking at him. He met his eyes. “Do you need something…?”

Alfred shook his head. “No, not really. I was just thinking… you don’t really like talking much do you?”

Arthur took a second to process what he’d said. “Yes well no… I… I don’t know what to say and… I don’t really know you…” He looked down, wondering if Alfred would be upset by him saying that.

“It’s cool it’s cool,” Alfred reassured him warmly. “If it takes you longer to warm up to me that’s all right. I come off as too much I think, or so people tell me. I guess I just don’t get nervous that easily. And I like talking too much.” He laughed.

Arthur smiled just a bit.

After some time had passed Alfred stood up. “Make sure you eat dinner,” he said, adopting a stern tone. “I’ll be back later.” He gathered up his stuff and headed out.

Arthur felt he’d missed his chance to really talk with Alfred. He felt like by not saying anything he’d driven him away. Why did his replies take so long? Why was it so hard to talk with people normally? He wasn’t like with his editors and co-workers… So why was it even harder to do so with Alfred?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 Notes: I’m sorry this chapter is boring T-T. i’m sorry this is taking so long to build up. i’m the one that takes things too slow! i promise events will happen in the next chapter that will start to work things into gear


	4. Chapter Four

Arthur woke up in the middle of the night, hearing shuffling in the room. He groggily and slowly registered it as Alfred coming back into the room. He wondered what time it was but decided it wasn’t important enough to look at the clock for. He rolled over, eyes seeing on the wall the illumination of the bathroom lights turning on. He smushed his cheek into the pillow as the bathroom door closed and the room darkened again.

 

He was so close to slipping back into sleep when he heard it. It was so soft and faint the first time that when it stirred him back to full consciousness he wondered if he was just hearing things. Were his ears just playing tricks on him? Was it just the sound of the heater? Was it in the hotel rooms next to him? In his train of thoughts he heard it again, this time more pronounced, more recognizable.

 

But- there was no way… Arthur sat up, ears straining in the quiet to pick out the sound of where it was coming from. He looked over, seeing light through the crack of the bathroom door. He heard the noise once more, louder this time, and now that he was focused on it it was all he could hear.

 

Arthur’s ears heated. Alfred was masturbating. At first Arthur wasn’t actually sure if it was just Alfred ahem… a bit constipated, but he absolutely knew for sure that was not the case. He could hear Alfred’s breath. It sounded hot as it grunted and panted. Arthur put his hand to his mouth, shocked. It wasn’t like masturbating was a shock to him, but he hadn’t expected for Alfred to be doing it in the bathroom of their hotel room. Why? Was he horny? Maybe he just thought Arthur wouldn’t have woken up or heard him. Well… at least he’d gone into the bathroom and not just jacked it in the bed next to Arthur. That would have been more mortifying to think about.

 

Arthur slowly laid back down in the bed, but now he couldn’t get it out of his mind. What did Alfred look like? Was he on the toilet? How was he doing it? Where was he sensitive more? Arthur paled, now mortified with himself. What was he doing? He just needed to ignore it and go back to sleep and not be some peeping tom on Alfred. This was ridiculous.

 

He pulled the covers over his head, but it was impossible not to hear…. and oh god _those sounds_ coming from Alfred. Arthur softly groaned in agony into the pillow. _Fuck._

 

Arthur’s eyes shot open. It was morning now, or so said the gray morning filtering in through a slightly pushed to the side curtain. It dimly lit the hotel room and Arthur sat up, glancing over. Alfred was fast asleep in bed, laying on his side with his back to Arthur. Arthur stared at his back, watching his shoulder rise and fall, thinking he had a rather broad back.

 

Arthur honestly had no idea how he’d managed to fall asleep after _that_ had happened. He did feel a bit sad that he honestly couldn’t remember if he’d heard Alfred finish or not. It seemed very dream like yet Arthur knew it was real.

 

He quickly got out of bed. He had to shower and be at work early. He also didn’t want Alfred to wake up and face him yet. He wanted some time to cool down before trying to talk to him, because he was sure he’d be way too embarrassed to admit he’d heard Alfred masturbating in the bathroom. It’s not like he could ever admit it to Alfred anyway. It would probably horrify the guy to find out he’d had an audience. Or was he into that sort of thing…?

 

Arthur shook his head, inwardly telling himself to forget about it. Loads of people masturbated. Arthur did it. And now he knew Alfred did it too. Not at all odd or gross. Not that Arthur had thought it’d been gross… or that the sounds Alfred had been making were gross… Or that the mental image he had of Alfred doing it was gross…

 

Arthur threw himself out of the bed, tripping over a bedsheet. He must have been very restless sleeping last night because his bed was a mess. He would need to fix that up later… or maybe have room service come in.

 

Arthur turned on the shower and began undressing himself. He told himself repeatedly he needed to stop thinking about it. The less he thought about it the faster things could return to normal and he could go about his daily life without being hindered like this. Arthur glanced around the bathroom before stepping into the shower. His mind wandered to the fact that Alfred had been in here just the night before…

 

Grinding his teeth together, he grabbed a bar of soap and started to wipe his body down, a bit sweaty because once again the hotel room was too hot. Alfred was pretty hot too.

 

“Oh fucking shit goddammit,” he muttered under his breath.

 

The rest of that morning getting ready had been a poor show at Arthur’s self control. He ended up at work even more restless and distracted. He’d wanted to get there early to catch up on some work he needed to complete but by lunch he was even more behind. It was ten minutes into his lunch break when Francis called him. Arthur had been staring at the vending machine in the break-room but nothing had caught his eye. He had forgotten about his plans to meet with Francis and answered.

 

“Bonjour,” a cheery voice said on the other line in a very poor and bad French accent.

 

He heard another voice tell said person to give him back his phone. “Arthur?” Francis asked into the phone.

 

“Er… hello?”

 

“Sorry about that there’s- _no go away_ \- somebody’s been messing around with my phone. They keep changing my background and they saw I had a note to call you- _would you please for Christ’s sake stop_ -” There was muted scuffling in the background and a bit of static on the line. “One moment, please,” Francis said. It sounded like he’d set the phone down. He heard somebody shriek and then silence for a minute more. A lady in the break-room slipped in front of Arthur, slipping a few bills into the vending machine. He apologized and moved out of the way. He made his way over to a high-top table in the corner of the room and sat down there. When he was seated he heard movement on the line and then Francis was back with him, talking once more. “I did want to call you,” Francis said. “Would you like to meet up for lunch or for dinner? Were you busy?”

 

“Either is fine,” Arthur responded. “I haven’t had lunch yet but I don’t exactly have any preference.”

 

“Hmm… Well, if it’s too short notice then perhaps dinner would be better? You have any recommendations? I know you’ve just moved here but perhaps you know of some place? Antonio said somebody had recommended to him to go to… hmmm… I’ve forgotten the name but it’s either near or in Vacaville- I’ll have to ask again, but would you like to go there?”

 

“I don’t mind. Sure, let’s go to that. Trying something new is always good I suppose. What time?”

 

Francis paused momentarily. “Well I’ll need to make sure to check the name and address once more to make sure but how does 6 sound? 5:30? We can either meet up and drive together or drive separately and meet at the restaurant.”

 

“I’d rather drive separately,” Arthur responded. “So I’ll meet you there. Just text me the address once you’ve gotten it, please,” Arthur said. “So… six should be better. It will give me slightly more time to finish all this work I need to get done.”

 

“Six it is then, Arthur,” Francis said warmly. Arthur smiled a bit. “I will see you then.”

 

They hung up and Arthur left the break-room, telling himself no more of this distracted nonsense. He would be able to talk with Francis about Alfred a bit more at dinner. That would help some. He always was glad to be able to see him. Although it hadn’t been that long he wanted to catch up a bit.

 

\--

 

Arthur stopped by the hotel room briefly to change. Alfred wasn’t there so Arthur didn’t have to worry about facing him yet. It wasn’t like Alfred knew he’d heard, so it wouldn’t be completely awkward, at least not for Alfred. But Arthur knew he wouldn’t be able to act normal and would just make things worse for the two of them. He wanted to avoid that if at all possible.

 

He wondered when Alfred would be back and if he should let him know where he’d gone. It’s not like Alfred had to know where Arthur was, or vice versa, but he thought it might be polite to do. That was when Arthur realized he didn’t even have Alfred’s number to text him. He probably should ask him in case there was an emergency or they needed to get in contact. A part of Arthur wished he was asking for Alfred’s number for different reasons, but he didn’t want to go there quite yet. There was no sense getting all jumbled up over a potential crush he might have on the guy whose graduate project he’d ruined. That was one sure fire way to get somebody to never date him. And besides, Alfred was most likely straight. And even if he weren’t well, Arthur wasn’t exactly all buff and beefy. He was flab and bones. Very not attractive.

 

He decided leaving a note would be best. He wrote out that he was meeting with a previous colleague for dinner, he didn’t know when he’d be back, and then left his phone number at the bottom if Alfred needed to contact him.

 

\--

 

Arthur got to the restaurant a bit later than he expected due to traffic back up from an accident. He spotted Francis already seated and apologized as he neared the table. Francis shook his head and motioned for Arthur to sit down, smiling. “It is no problem,” he said, sitting up a bit in his own seat.

 

The beginning of the dinner was a bit slow with them catching up on recent topics, and Francis gossiping about the employees back in San Francisco. It made Arthur envious and sad, wishing he could be back there again. God it’d only been a week and he missed it this much already? How was he to survive a month? A year?

 

They ordered the food and ate slowly. Arthur had gotten a wine to go with his and sipped it slowly. It made him feel warm and slightly fuzzy but good.

 

As they neared the end of their meal Francis leaned back a bit. “So Arthur…” He took a sip of his own wine, swirling it around in the cup and glancing over at the waiter who was getting an order from another table. “We have talked about almost everything, from work to our high school days, but there is still one thing we haven’t discussed…”

 

Arthur raised an eyebrow. “What… oh…” He rolled his eyes. “We’re not talking about our love lives Francis.”

 

There was a spark to Francis’s eyes and he sat up again, more alert than he’d been before. “So there is someone,” he said, getting that look on his face.

 

“There’s nobody Francis, you’re imagining things.”

 

“You cannot lie to me, Arthur, I have known you too long. I know there’s someone and you’re going to tell me _everything_.

 

“It’s not- their not… there’s no _thing_ , Francis. It’s just… it’s not even a crush. It’s a just… just eye-candy, that’s all. Eye candy who is undoubtedly not into me even in the slightest. There’s been nothing at all between us that could even be considered romantic or flirting or… just anything…” Arthur’s mind at that moment decided to suddenly remember Alfred in the bathroom. He flushed a bit and took a sip of his wine.

 

“What happened?” Francis asked, seeing the look on Arthur’s face. He could read him all too well.

 

“It’s too long of a story… and nothing really… well…” Arthur glanced at Francis. He knew there was no way he was going to get Francis to leave if he didn’t tell him. At least it would give him a chance to talk about it to someone. He didn’t even know why he needed to talk about it but well… He talked with Francis about everything, that’s just how it was. Even when he didn’t want to he just somehow ended up talking to Francis about whatever it was that was upsetting or troubling him. “All right I’ll tell you but… but not here. Let’s go for a walk.”

 

They finished up their wine, and fought over who was paying for the check. Arthur had first insisted on getting Francis’s, who declined repeatedly. Then he tried to bargain for each paying separately when Francis insisted on taking Arthur’s. Francis won, telling Arthur he knew he must be low on money at the moment with the move and all, and that he could repay him next time.

 

It was chilly out and dark, and Arthur buttoned up his long coat. He hadn’t anticipated taking a walk after dinner so he hadn’t bothered to grab his scarf, which upset him slightly. His nose and ears were chilly.

 

They kept to the downtown, lit areas, and Arthur recounted the whole story about the busted pipe, meeting Alfred, the awkward Denny’s dinner, and their hotel situation. Francis had laughed at Arthur relentlessly, telling him that he felt sorry for Alfred. He made Arthur describe in detail what he looked like and if he was available. Arthur didn’t want to be creepy so he kept his description short and unbiased as he could, and said he had no clue whether Alfred was single or not. This made Arthur a bit disappointed. He hadn’t even considered Alfred having a partner already. But why wouldn’t he, with how charming and social he was? Any partner of Alfred’s was lucky.

 

When Arthur got up to what had happened last night, he paused. Should he really be telling Francis that he’d overheard Alfred masturbating? What could Francis say about it? He felt though that this “development” between them was fictional. It wasn’t like they were bonding over masturbation in any way. It wasn’t like Alfred had called out Arthur’s name, or anything like that. It was just Arthur unfortunately waking up and invading Alfred’s privacy. Yet another part of him wondered and was curious as to why Alfred had decided to masturbate then. He told all of this to Francis eventually, after some literal poking and prodding about it. Francis was a very persistent person, Arthur knew. He also could read Arthur like a book so there was nothing he could really hide from him either.

 

“I fell asleep before he finished… I think,” Arthur explained. “And then this morning I left before he woke up. So like I said, nothing really happened. He did what most people tend to do in private, and I just happened to overhear…” Arthur glanced down. “There’s nothing between us.”

 

“How do you fall asleep during something like that?” Francis asked, astounded. He didn’t say anything for a bit after that, seemingly thinking about the whole situation. “I believe you’re right, and it’s best not to mention it to him. Saying that you overheard him will only make things awkward between you, and you don’t want to have that sort of atmosphere with the remainder of your time together in the hotel.”

“That’s what I think too,” Arthur agreed. “There’s no point. I just….. oh Francis, I just… can’t get it out of my head. I know it’s wrong of me but I keep… I keep picturing him doing it and… coupled with those sounds… He’s like… a walking sex dream.” Arthur flushed red, not believing he was admitting that out loud. Francis knew Arthur liked guys but Arthur had never really talked to him about liking any guys. To be honest, Arthur hadn’t really ever had a thing with anyone. For a brief amount of time, he’d had a relationship with a guy he’d met in college. They hadn’t been all too compatible so they broke up without ever doing anything with one another. Then in the past couple years Arthur had only ever done short meetups with a specific person, but that was to quell sexual desires. There had been no romance there.

 

It wasn’t like Arthur was all too interested in love. He thought that when it happened it would happen, but there was no need to rush it. He also felt that, if it never happened at all, that would be okay too. It wasn’t like Arthur was in love with Alfred. They barely knew each other. He could maybe say he was interested in him, that was true. It wasn’t hard to picture himself going on a date with Alfred, but that was only a picture in his mind, and he didn’t like to get his hopes up for things that weren’t likely to come true. After their time at the hotel together ended, Arthur doubted they would see each other anymore, aside from potentially running into one another at the apartment. And Alfred was going to graduate soon. He was bound to move away for whatever job he got, and that would be that.

 

Francis seemed to tell immediately how down Arthur was. He reached up and gently cupped his cheek, smiling at him. “Oh Arthur, it’s all right… You tend to over-think things and worry way too much when-”

 

“Arthur…?”

 

Arthur turned to see Alfred standing there. He did a double take, shocked. Was he hallucinating now? Was Alfred actually standing there? Francis had lowered his hand, looking very confused, obviously not knowing that _this_ was Alfred.

 

“Hey, what’re you doing around here?”

 

Arthur got over his shock enough to respond. “Alfred… er… what are you doing here?” he asked, realizing he had avoided answering and instead just asked another question in return.

 

Upon hearing the name Alfred, Francis had immediately perked up. He took a step forward, stretching out his hand. “Hello, I’m Francis,” he introduced himself. “I am a previous co-worker of Arthur’s, and childhood friend. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 

Alfred gave Francis that smile of his that showed off his dimple and Arthur’s heart melted a bit. “Francis? Nice to meet you. I’m Alfred I-”

 

“I know I know,” Francis said, shaking Alfred’s hand. “Arthur and I were catching up with one another. I heard about your apartment and I’m very sorry to hear what happened. You are unfortunate to live under Arthur- he’s all bad luck and clumsiness,” Francis laughed.

 

Arthur was feeling so embarrassed. He couldn’t say anything.

 

“Well… it’s not all that unfortunate,” Alfred said, glancing at Arthur. He didn’t explain any further and now Arthur was curious as to what he’d meant by that.

 

“I left a note for you,” Arthur said, cutting in. “At the hotel.”

 

“Oh sorry, I haven’t been there since I left this morning. Speaking of which, you left pretty early huh?”

 

“Ah… yes, I had to catch up on some work.” He rubbed his nose, the cold getting to him with them just standing around. “You never said why you were here…?”

 

“What? Oh right, yeah! One of my buddies for his thesis does his work in a studio here, and I was helping him out. I would have been back at the hotel by now, but the friend who dropped me off here was suddenly called into work, so now I’m trying to figure out a way to get back.” He laughed a bit. “I don’t wanna have to pay for a taxi, ya know?”

 

“I-”

 

“Well you’re in luck!” Francis said suddenly, wrapping an arm around Arthur’s shoulders. “Arthur and I have just finished up now, so consider him your ride.” Arthur felt his ears turning more red by the second and didn’t know if it was due to the cold or embarrassment. He didn’t want to think about “ride” and “Alfred” in the same sentence and god when did he become this perverted? Alfred would honestly be mortified if he heard some of the things that went on in Arthur’s head.

 

“I don’t mind,” Arthur said. “We’re headed back to the same place.”

 

“You sure? You guys didn’t want to catch up more… er… or spend more time together?”

 

Francis shook his head. “I’m afraid I should be getting back. San Francisco is not that far from here, so it should not be hard to meet up again soon.”

 

“Right,” Alfred agreed.

 

“It was nice to meet you Alfred. And Arthur, remember to feed and take care of yourself. Until next time,” Francis said, leaning over and kissing Arthur on the cheek before waving and heading off. Arthur had gotten so used to Francis kissing his cheek he didn’t even think twice about it now. It was just something Francis did. He noticed Alfred was looking at him strangely, and Arthur wondered what the odd look was for. Perhaps Alfred was homophobic? Arthur nearly paled. He would be so devastated if that were the case. Alfred hadn’t seemed the type but… but there was just no telling. They really didn’t know one another…

 

“Was that your boyfriend?” Alfred asked.

 

Arthur’s heart sped a bit. “Francis? My boyfriend? Oh no no, he’s just a good friend,” Arthur said quickly, then felt stupid for denying it so fast. Now it would look like he was lying. He cleared his throat. “Shall we?” he asked, motioning forward and beginning to walk.

 

They walked in silence for most of the way. Arthur had parked on a back street that was a lot darker than the downtown area. He shivered, glancing around.

 

“Are you cold?” Alfred asked.

 

“Yes, ah- somewhat. I forgot my scarf,” Arthur explained.

 

He saw Alfred suddenly unwrapping the scarf around his own neck. “Here-”

 

“No no it’s all right,” Arthur said. “You don’t need to do that.”

 

“I’m hot anyway, so it’s all right. Just borrow it for now.”

“But I-”

 

“It’s really no big deal,” Alfred said. “Honestly.”

 

Arthur wanted to sink into the earth. Alfred was actually offering him his scarf and he didn’t think he was prepared to deal with this step. It probably didn’t even mean anything for Alfred but for Arthur-

 

“Here stop.” Alfred had suddenly started wrapping the scarf around Arthur’s neck loosely. Arthur stopped, facing Alfred and letting him finish his task. “Think of it as payment for the ride back.” The scarf was a very big and very warm one, probably from Alfred using it. It smelled like him but Arthur refused to take a big whiff of it right when Alfred was watching him. It covered part of his face, going up to his nose. The warmth of it made Arthur bury his nose in further, feeling much more comfortable now. He’d always wanted a big scarf like this but had never managed to find one before. He started to ask Alfred where he’d gotten it but suddenly saw a peculiar look on Alfred’s face again.

 

He fell quiet and then it was just the two of them standing there on some back street looking at one another and holy shit this was too much for Arthur. He tore his gaze away.

 

“We should be getting home,” he said, then realized what he’d just said. “Well, to the hotel.” He began walking away quickly, hoping Alfred would overlook that slip up.

 

“... right…” Alfred said, following after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 Notes: i’m so srry this chapter was longer than the others i really don’t know why it was like that! at least there’s finally some development like they’re finally getting somewhere it’s still so fucking slow though lol plz dun hate me


	5. Chapter Five

The ride home started off awkward and silent. Arthur decided to alleviate the awkwardness by turning on the radio and hoping music would help. Unfortunately, there was nothing good on the radio and Arthur had to keep flipping through channels, trying to find a station that he could settle on.

 

“Why do you keep skipping so many good songs?” Alfred suddenly said.

Arthur backtracked to the last station he’d just passed. “This? This is a good song?” It was a pop song from some male artist.

“It’s Ed Sheeren, how can you not like him?”

 

“Who is Ed… Sheer...Sheer-?”

 

Alfred gaped at him. “How can you not know who he- what- he’s British!” he exclaimed. Arthur wondered if he was going to have a heart attack. Should he pull off on the next exit that had a hospital?

“He is…?” he asked, a bit surprised.

Alfred turned down the radio. “You’ve seriously have never heard of him? Never? ‘Thinking Out Loud?’, ‘The A Team’?”

“What team?”

Alfred looked more and more shocked and Arthur unintentionally slowed down his car a bit, wondering if this would be the second time Alfred would explode on him. “I just… I don’t listen to this… stuff, all that often,” Arthur said, motioning at the radio.

“What- this stuff? _Pop music_?” Alfred asked, incredulous.

Arthur shook his head.

“What _do_ you listen to then?”

Arthur shrugged. “I listen to mostly books on tape, and sometimes the news. And on occasion I like the classical station.”

Alfred looked like he was still trying to take the time to process that Arthur didn’t know who the singer he had just mentioned was. Edward… Edmond… hm… Arthur couldn’t remember his name.

“Sam Smith?” Alfred asked, a hopeful look on his face.

Arthur shook his head. “...who?”

“He’s British too!”

“You can’t expect me to just know every English singer there is!” Arthur cried out in defense.

“Muse? One Direction?”

  
“No…”

“Adele!?”

“No wait- actually yes,” Arthur said. He recalled that his mother had liked to listen to Adele while she cooked. She would put her CD on in the kitchen stereo and sing her lungs out while she cooked for Arthur and his brothers, back when he’d come home the summer after his junior year of university. He missed her.

Alfred seemed relieved that Arthur knew at least one of the names he’d listed off.

“Wait, were all of those artists English?” Arthur asked.

“Yes!” Alfred said, exasperated. “I can’t believe… have you been living under a rock? How old are you? What have you done for most of your life? Do you hate yourself?”

Arthur frowned. “Just because I don’t listen to a lot of music, or… pop music, I should say, doesn’t mean I’ve been living under a rock _or_ that I dislike myself.” No, Arthur only hated himself for other very legitimate reasons like the fact that he listened to Alfred masturbate and was now secretly sniffing Alfred’s scarf without him noticing. “I’m sure there are loads of people who don’t listen to it either.”

“It’s called _pop_ music for a reason, Artie,” Alfred said dryly.

Arthur didn’t feel like correcting Alfred and telling him his name wasn’t Artie. Part of him had started to really enjoy the fact Alfred had given him a nickname. Arthur wondered if there was anything he could shorten Alfred’s name to. Alf sounded too stupid and Arthur wasn’t about to call him Fred. When _Alfie_ popped into his head Arthur knew there was no way he would ever get away with calling Alfred “Alfie” without it sounded incredibly stupid and being incredibly embarrassed. It sounded more like a pet name rather than a nickname anyway.

He pulled off to the left on their exit, taking a right at the fork and headed down a long, four lane road that led to their hotel. When they got back to the hotel Arthur checked to see a missed call from Francis. He pressed the button to call him back, Alfred crossing the room to go the bathroom, and Francis decided to answer as soon as Alfred was a foot in front of Arthur with, “You didn’t tell me he was that hot!”

Arthur immediately shoved his hand over the phone, bouncing away from Alfred and wondering if he’d heard. He decided it would be better to talk in the hallway and left the room quickly.

  
“What if he’d heard you?” he hissed into the phone.

“Well did he?” Francis asked, hopeful. “I want you to let him know I am currently single and-”

“I’m not telling him that!” Arthur responded, moving further away from the door. He decided he should take a walk down to the lobby area while he talked.

“Did you see how jealous he looked?” Francis asked.

Arthur frowned. “Jealous? Alfred? When?” He tried to recall at any point in the night when Alfred would have been jealous, and for what reason. “Of what?”

“You silly. Well, more so, jealous of me being with you, but you understand.”

“I don’t understand,” Arthur responded, feeling frustrated. He wished he’d noticed Alfred being jealous but he just didn’t see why he would have been.

“Well first when he came up to us. You could not see his face, because your back was too him, but he was oh so not happy with my hand on your face. Then when I put my arm around your shoulders, and kissed your cheek… Basically any time I touched you, he was.”

“Francis that’s ridiculous, there’s no way he was. And you always touch me, you’re a very sociable person.”  
  


“I know this Arthur, and so do you, but _he_ doesn’t. He was definitely jealous, I know that look very well.”

Arthur wanted to call Francis crazy but he also wanted it to be somewhat true. If Alfred was jealous it meant he was interested in Arthur. Or at least, to the point of not wanting Arthur to be with Francis or have other people touching him but still… “I told you earlier, we don’t even know each other, and-”

“It isn’t about that Arthur. Even if you don’t know each other you clearly like him well enough. Having an interest in someone doesn’t mean you need to have any certain time qualifications in order for it to be an interest in someone. You can like anyone from the first moment you meet them. If the time you spend together and that increases that ‘like’ it may develop into something more, and if the time you get to know a person decreases that ‘like’ then you’ll know it won’t work out. In your case, your interest is certainly growing, and his seems to be as well.”

Arthur sat down on a couch in the lobby, over by the back wall, thinking it over. There was a family checking in at the front desk, and a hotel employee over in the kitchen area, but other than that it was pretty much void of people so Arthur didn’t have to worry about being too disruptive with his phone call.

“I have to go now, but I hope you will consider what I have said. None of this ‘we don’t know each other’ business. If you don’t know him, then what are you talking to me for? Go talk to him! And have a little more faith in yourself. You’re not completely unlovable,” Francis said, laughing.

“Thanks,” Arthur said, grimacing. “I’ll try… Thank you for dinner tonight,” he said softly.

“You’re welcome… We will get together again soon,” Francis promised.

Arthur nodded, smiling. “Good bye.”  
  


“Adieu,” Francis said, hanging up the phone.

Arthur shut off his phone screen, and glanced up. He saw Alfred standing on the other side of the lobby. Alfred seemed to notice him just then as well. He made his way over and Arthur wondered if something was wrong. Had Alfred overheard? Was he going to tell Arthur he no longer wanted to room with him?

“Hey Artie,” Alfred took a seat next to him. “Hey so- you look upset is something wrong?” Alfred asked, concerned.

Arthur shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong. Is there something wrong? Did you need something?”

“No no I just… you called Francis so quickly I thought… Are you sure I wasn’t interrupting anything earlier? I could have found a different way home and let you two talk more. You seemed to be like… well… on a date… Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” Alfred said quickly. “It’s totally cool if you were and I didn’t want you to feel like you needed to hide that from me…”

Arthur smiled slightly. Alfred was too considerate but at the same time, the way he spoke… Did he not mind that Arthur had been on a “date” with Francis? Was there nothing wrong with them being on a date because Alfred was an open-minded individual or because he was gay too? Was there nothing wrong with them being on a date because Alfred wasn’t interested in Arthur? “No. Thank you, though, but I’m honestly not dating Francis,” Arthur said earnestly. He smiled at Alfred softly. “He’s just a very good friend whom I miss, but it was nice seeing him tonight. You don’t need to feel like you were interrupting. We would have finished talking soon anyway and gone our separate ways, so I promise you it’s all right.”

Alfred was silent for a second or so. “Why did he call? Was everything all right?”

Arthur nodded. Er… he didn’t want to tell Alfred Francis had called just to tell him that he thought Alfred was hot and also jealous. “He just forgot to tell me something at dinner, that’s all,” he lied, clearing his throat a bit. He slid his phone into his pocket. “Shall we go back up to the room?” he asked. It was rather strange sitting on a couch in a hotel lobby talking with Alfred.

“Sure,” Alfred said. “Ah… I forgot my key so I hope you have yours,” he grinned sheepishly.

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Yes I do, because I’m responsible like that.”

They stood up together, heading back to the room. “Hey so you’re not upset with me right?” Alfred asked.

“About what?” Arthur responded, confused.

“About our talk in the car… about the music and stuff… I really don’t think you’re weird… Okay well that was a lie. You’re weird but like… not in a bad way and I didn’t mean it as an insult I was just…” Alfred rubbed the back of his neck, looking slightly flustered. “Just a bit surprised is all.”

“It’s all right,” Arthur reassured him. “I didn’t really get too offended.” He was going to reach over to pat Alfred but then decided against it. “You don’t need apologize so much.”

“Sorry… Haha yeah I know. It’s a bat habit everyone has I think,” Alfred said with a short laugh.

They got back to the room and he waited for Arthur to open the door to the hotel room. Arthur let Alfred head in first and followed after him. He went over to turn down the heater a bit, knowing if he left it on like this he’d wake up burning up in the middle of the night.

“So are you going to wear my scarf to bed?” Alfred asked.

“Hm-- oh! No no I’m so sorry,” Arthur said. To be honest, part of him wanted to say that yes he was going to wear it for the rest of his life, and another part of him had forgotten he was wearing it.

“It’s no problem.”  
  


Arthur took it off, handing it back to Alfred. Alfred seemed almost hesitant to take it and Arthur wondered why. He’d wanted it back... hadn’t he?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Five Notes: “The ‘A Team’?” What team? WILDCUTS GET CHUR HEUD IN THE GUME


	6. Chapter Six

This was the first night in the hotel Alfred and Arthur had been there together and not immediately going to sleep. It was a bit nerve racking. Sure they’d spent some time together in the hotel but Arthur had been working and Alfred had been watching TV and he’d left and it was during the day and not at all like this.

 

Now Alfred was getting out of the shower and he was standing out by the sink running a towel through his hair, shirtless, pajama pants slung low on his hips and it was taking every ounce of Arthur’s willpower to not stare at him. But he didn’t want to be rude and creepy so he kept his eyes on his book and pretended he wasn’t reading the same sentence over and over and over again.

 

Arthur himself had already changed into pajamas of his own, sitting on the edge of his bed, one leg tucked underneath him, the other hanging off the side and dangling back and forth.

 

Alfred looked at Arthur through the mirror’s reflection. “I wish we had some cards,” Alfred said, pulling on a shirt.

 

“Cards?”

 

“You know, like playing cards. I wish we had some. We could play some games.”

 

“I have some,” Arthur admitted.

 

“Seriously?” Alfred said, looking excited.

 

“Yes…” Arthur had been sent on business trips before with Francis, and every time Francis insisted they play card games, so Arthur always kept a deck in his suitcase, and he  happened to have that suitcase with him now. “What do you want to play?”

 

“Uh… not sure. What games do you know?” Alfred asked.

 

“Rummy, War, Crazy Eights, Cribbage, Old Maid, Happy Families, Slapjack, loads of them,” Arthur responded. Growing up with three other brothers meant big family game nights, and most of the time cards was the easiest.

 

“Happy Families?” Alfred asked.

 

“It’s a bit like Go Fish,” Arthur said. “There’s usually a specific deck you use for it,” he explained.

 

Alfred nodded understandingly. “Rummy then?” he asked, sitting down on his bed.

 

“Sure.” Arthur got up and got the deck from his suitcase, zipping up the little pouch. He glanced over at Alfred, unsure where they would play it. When he looked over though Alfred was patting his bed in a “come here” gesture. Arthur wasn’t sure how he felt sitting on a bed with Alfred but it was just a card game. That’s all it was. He got on the bed, sitting criss-cross applesauce across from the Alfred, pulling the cards out of the little sleeve.

  
“Do you mind if I turn on the TV for some background noise?” Alfred asked.

 

“That’s all right.” Arthur set up the game while Alfred flicked through a couple channels, turning down the volume to a lower setting so they could hear one another without having to talk loudly.

 

\--

 

They chatted a bit while they played, getting to know one another with things such as where they went to high school, how Francis and Arthur had met. They weren’t very competitive in the beginning and took their time with the first game of Rummy, drawing it out.

 

After each turn Arthur would use Alfred’s focus on the game to watch him, the way his eyes scanned over all the cards to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. He liked the way Alfred chewed on the corner of his cheek when he was thinking, and the way he’d run his hand through his still-drying hair.

 

Arthur could smell him from where he sat, the smell of soap and shower and warmth. Arthur hoped he didn’t still smell awful like food or something from the restaurant. He’d changed clothes and had washed his face and brushed his teeth already though.

 

“Alfred…”

 

“Hm?”

 

“What… was your dissertation of?” Arthur asked curiously. He’d been wondering sometimes while he was at work what the photographs had been of. He’d been going back and forth on whether he should ask Alfred or not, or if that would just upset him. “What were those photographs supposed to be?”

 

Alfred put his cards down, looking up from the pile. He was silent for a moment, contemplating. “You don’t have to say if you don’t want to,” Arthur said quickly.

 

Alfred shook his head. “Nah it’s all right. I mean- I guess, to put it simply, it’s about the food industry? Mainly specifically how the local restaurants function comparatively to one another, and comparatively to non-local ones, to other ones I’ve been to, and even some in other countries. I’ve been going around for quite a while getting interviews with people, collecting picture of the people I’ve met and the conditions they work in. I’m really focusing on the utilization of immigrants as kitchen workers and how it’s really difficult on them, but yet most of them come here to escape rogue or pariah states and problematic countries like that. Especially the incoming workers from Latin America. I’ve been really trying to get like… a story of their experiences and a lot of that story is in the pictures I’ve taken… But…”

 

Arthur hadn’t expected Alfred to have been focusing on such a big issue like that. He felt a bit of admiration towards Alfred, and then guiltiness towards himself for ruining something so important.

 

“It’s not like _all_ of the photos I’ve taken were ruined, a lot of them I’ve already compiled into the final presentation at my actual studio. But a good chunk of them were some of my favorites that really drove home the message. They were the second to last batch that I needed to develop. I still have more left but… It’s just, I’ll never get those back.”

 

“Alfred I’m so sorry…” Arthur said, folding his hands in his lap.

 

“It’s all right Artie… seriously. I’ve already forgiven you. I didn’t really mean that you’d ruined my whole dissertation when I was yelling at ya. I’ll be okay without those photos, because I do have more content and all the interviews I’ve done. It was just… I was a little panicked at that moment you know?”

 

Arthur bit his lip. Even though Alfred had reassured him it was all right, he still felt very bad about it.

 

“You were sobbing your eyes out too,” he said, trying to make a little joke.

 

Alfred looked embarrassed now. Good. Arthur didn’t want to be the only embarrassed all the time.

 

“Haha yeah very funny. Hey, look on the bright side, we got to meet each other because of you, ya know? We got to hang out at this hotel together, go to Denny’s together, and now we’re playing cards together. I haven’t gotten to do this with anyone in a really long time. I’ve been so busy and most of my friends are just other people in the same field as me. All we ever talk about are our dissertations and show each other our pictures and help each other develop photographs, it can get pretty repetitive and pretty boring.” Alfred shrugged a bit. “And some of those people can be really posh and hipster and all about the ‘ _artistic value_ ’ of their photographs. Like seriously? This one guy has showed me the same ten photographs of his for the past two years. I don’t think he’s even taken any other photos than those ten. He says they’re gonna get put up in a gallery and…” Alfred rolled his eyes. “You get it right? But like, I don’t have to talk about this stuff around you Artie. I like that we argue about stupid things like pop music,” Alfred smiled and laughed. “And I’ve liked getting to know you a bit more tonight…”

 

Arthur met Alfred’s eyes, physically forcing himself not to blush. “I’ve liked talking to you too. To be honest, moving here wasn’t exactly ideal for me, but it was a pay raise and it wasn’t that far from San Francisco… But I don’t know anyone here and I don’t really know anyone in America at all. I think you’re my very first American friend.”

 

Alfred looked proud to have accomplished that.

 

“What do you think of us Americans?”

 

“Different from English people, that’s for sure. But you’re not all exactly the ‘American stereotype’. I’ve obviously liked living here enough to continue and not flee back to England.”

 

“That’s true. One day I’d like to go to England. You’ll have to show me around, all right?”

 

Arthur nodded. “My hometown is in the county of Cornwall-St Ives- it's lovely,” Arthur sighed, missing home. “I think you’d like to visit there, and of course all the popular tourists sites like London. The Cotswolds and Devon are nice places to go as well.”

 

Alfred’s smile seemed to grow.

 

They talked about England for a bit longer, not minding the pause in their game. Arthur described his family, going into detail about his brothers and their antics. Alfred told him about his one brother and how they were twins and Arthur couldn’t believe there were two people that looked like Alfred.

 

\--

 

Finally, after getting back to the cards and after a couple games of Rummy and one of Crazy Eights, Alfred suggested they do Slapjack. Arthur had won one of the Rummy games but lost the other and the Crazy Eights game, so he was determined to even it out by winning this next one. He hadn’t told Alfred yet, but this was the game Francis and he always played and so he was very, very competitive when it came to it. Speed games were very different than other card games. Ones like Rummy required planning ahead, but speed games were just about reflexes. Despite all that Arthur was lacking in, he definitely made up for it in reflexes.

 

They started flipping the cards, Alfred laughing slightly at the tense atmosphere between them as they waited. The first Jack didn’t stand a chance, as soon as Alfred had flipped it over Arthur’s hand smacked it. Alfred seemed rather surprised at how fast Arthur had been, and now he felt Alfred become more serious.

 

The next two Jacks and some “sandwiches” later, Arthur had most of the deck in his hand. “You’re cheating!” Alfred cried.

  
“How am I cheating?” Arthur responded. “You just need to admit defeat!”

 

Alfred slapped the next Jack. “Ha! I won’t! You’ve just been lucky until now!”

 

“I think you’re underestimating me,” Arthur said, focusing more now, upset he’d missed that one. He’d had perfect games with people before, managing to keep them from hitting a single one. And now part of him wanted to impress Alfred.

 

They duked it out, Alfred catching up only slightly for a bit but Arthur eventually taking the lead until Alfred was out of cards. The poor guy looked desperate. “You have one more shot,” Arthur said, referring to the fact that if Alfred got the next slap he would be back in the game, but if he didn’t, Arthur would win.

 

Arthur flipped a card over, watching Alfred’s expression. The way he bit his lip, was leaning forward... They were so close to one another on the bed. Arthur focused back on the game, and just in time. He flipped a card over and immediately both he and Alfred were lunging, hands slapping down onto the cards. Arthur had dropped the deck in his hand and was leaning forwards, looking down.

 

He had won. “Yes!” he cried out.   
  


His hand was flat on the jack, the palm stinging. The back of his hand stung too where Alfred had slapped him, by accident of course.

 

“No!” Alfred tried to pry Arthur’s hand off the card. Arthur grabbed the card off the bed, holding it behind him.

 

“I won!”

 

“Give it back you cheater!” Alfred reached forward for the card, trying to get it from Arthur’s hand. Arthur held it further away, falling back on the bed as Alfred tackled him. They wrestled, Alfred trying to pull the card, Arthur trying to get Alfred off of him.

 

“You’ll rip the card!”

 

“I won’t if you give it to me! I slapped it first!”  
  


Arthur laughed. “You clearly didn’t you liar! And now you’re a thief too!” He giggled more. “Someone’s a sore loser,” he commented.

 

Alfred paused briefly before seemingly stopping trying to get the card altogether. Arthur glanced up at him, confused. There was a moment of hesitation before Alfred was suddenly _tickling_ him. Arthur shoved at his chest. “No wait! Aha… stop! This isn’t fair!”  
  


“I’m not a sore loser!” Alfred said, laughing as he tickled Arthur more.

 

“You… ahah… clearly are!” Arthur said, trying to pull Alfred’s hands off his waist. He hadn’t had anyone tickle him since he was young. He felt his sides ache, laughter escaping his lips. “Please stop!” he laughed.

 

He tugged Alfred’s arm away and Alfred fell forwards a bit. “Stop… wait…” Arthur suddenly hooked his legs around Alfred and shoved at one side. He managed to roll them so he was on top of Alfred now, straddling him, hands pressed to his chest. The two of them froze, faces a breath’s space apart.

 

Arthur seemed to realize what he’d just done at the same time Alfred seemed to realize just what kind of position they were in. The two of them were breathing a bit harshly too from their wrestling seconds ago. There wasn’t even a second of hesitation, which was strange to Arthur because their whole relationship with one another previous to now had been a lot of hesitations.

 

Alfred leaned up and very quickly pressed his lips against Arthur’s. He pulled back immediately, silently asking if that had been okay. Arthur leaned down and kissed him back softly, testing the waters, wondering if this is what Alfred wanted, if this is where he wanted to go. He could feel Alfred crane his neck, and his eyes slipped closed as he met Alfred’s lips again and again. They kissed and Arthur could feel his heart beating in his throat, blood rushing to his face and ears. Their kiss was light and flirty at first but as it drew out it grew deeper.

 

Arthur could feel Alfred’s hands cupping his hips. His fingers played with Alfred’s shirt, gripping and pulling at it almost nervously. His other arm trembled a bit as he held himself up above Alfred, not wanting to move in the slightest with the fear that doing so would stop the kiss. He was afraid if they did break the kiss Alfred would come to his senses and regret it.

 

Oh but it felt so lovely. He didn’t think that so soon after meeting Alfred things would have turned to this. It was something he hadn’t expected at all but he was happy at the same time. Who knew he would of had to bust a pipe to get someone like Alfred to kiss him? He should have been breaking more things earlier on.

 

It felt all too surreal that, supposedly, Alfred was reciprocating the same feelings Arthur had for him. He hoped that’s what this was, and not Alfred messing with him.

 

They slowly pulled apart, Arthur unsure if he wanted it to end, unsure of what to say, unsure and nervous and… Alfred reached up and gently cupped Arthur’s cheek, thumb brushing under his eye. He sat himself up, scooting Arthur back a bit on his lap.

 

“Sh-should I-” Arthur started to move to get off of Alfred, but Alfred grabbed his hips again, holding him in place. Arthur slid his hands up from Alfred’s chest to his shoulders, meeting his eyes again. They were both blushing a lot.

 

“I… I really like you,” Arthur blurted out, turning more red and watching the blush spread on Alfred’s cheeks.

 

He nodded, meeting Arthur’s eyes. “I really like you too…”

 

God he felt he was in middle school again, confessing to his first crush. At least this time he wouldn’t go home crying because he’d been rejected.

 

Alfred curled an arm around Arthur’s back, pulling him closer. He leaned forward, Arthur’s breath caught in anticipation, and just as they were about to kiss again, his phone suddenly went off. Arthur jumped, feeling it vibrate in his back pocket. “S-sorry!” He looked at the number and saw it was Natalya. “Hello?” he answered, glancing at Alfred who looked rather put-off. There was a pout to Alfred’s lips that Arthur wanted to kiss away. “Natalya? What is it?”

 

“Sorry it is late. I wanted to let you know that your apartments should be good as new by tomorrow at noon.” She rambled off some more of the details like the bill and what all they had fixed up, and by the time Arthur hung up his legs were getting sore from sitting in the same position on Alfred’s lap for too long.

 

Arthur leaned back a bit for a moment before deciding he wanted to put his head on Alfred’s chest again. “Natalya said we can go back to our apartments tomorrow by noon… I guess we don’t need to stay here tomorrow night, even though we booked the room through then.”

 

Alfred grabbed the remote and clicked the TV off. He gently soothed his hand up and down Arthur’s back. “Hmm… Well, I suppose we could… Or…” He pulled Arthur closer, lips brushing down the side of his neck. Arthur held onto Alfred for balance, surprised at the sudden contact. He shivered. “Or we could use this as a vacation of sorts… Get to know each other a little bit more,” Alfred murmured in Arthur’s ear.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6 Notes: When I was writing this part I thought, let's end the chapter here. Lol. >: ) 
> 
> Also I know jack-shit about England sorry.


	7. Chapter Seven

Arthur felt the tips of his ears burn. They seemed to do that a lot when Alfred was around. “I believe we’ve had our vacation already… but what did you have in mind?” Arthur murmured. He couldn’t believe they’d shifted from finally talking about their lives to this. It was quite a jump but it didn’t feel stressed or pressured to Arthur. He hoped it was the same for Alfred.

 

“Hmm… well first I’d like to kiss you again,” Alfred said. “Cause I’ve kinda wanted to kiss ya since the ride back from Denny’s. And I want you to kiss me back.”

 

“That long?... Hm...I’ll have to think about that last request,” Arthur laughed softly. Alfred flicked him. He smoothed a hand through Alfred’s hair. “And then…?” he asked, anticipation bubbling in him.

 

“Then, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to touch you some… And I want you to touch me too...” Alfred said gently. “I have to admit it made me mad to see Francis touching you so much.”

 

“I think I’d like that too,” Arthur responded. “So you were jealous?”

 

Alfred had slowly started to lower Arthur backwards on the bed. “I didn’t want to say so but yea I was… You looked real cute in my scarf though,” he winked. He had flipped their positions until Arthur was on his back under Alfred. Alfred pulled his glasses off, setting them on the bedside table before focusing his attention back on Arthur.

 

“How many fingers am I holding up?” Arthur asked jokingly, holding up his hand.

 

Alfred took Arthur’s hand in his, intertwining their fingers. “Seventeen,” he said.

 

Arthur laughed. “Right. How did you know…?”

  
Alfred started laying a few kisses to Arthur’s jaw, moving along until he found Arthur’s lips again. They kissed, taking their time getting to know the way one another moved and tasted. Arthur felt over-rung, the two of them pausing from time to time to press their noses into the nooks and pockets of each other’s necks. The tip of Alfred’s nose was cold and dry, and Arthur let out a soft, sweet sigh, tilting his head like a reaction to Alfred’s movements as he traced the curve of Arthur’s neck with his lips.

 

They moved to seek out each other’s lips once more, awkwardly crooked, and noses brushing one another’s. Arthur liked the sensation of kissing Alfred, liked the way he shifted closer to Arthur, liked the feel of Alfred’s soft, damp hair under his fingertips.

 

Arthur used his elbows to prop himself up to meet Alfred’s lips more fully, kissing him more deeply. He hooked one arm around Alfred’s neck and pulled him down. He felt like he kept pushing and pulling, never close enough. He hoped it wasn’t annoying to Alfred but Arthur was so ecstatic he could not believe he was actually getting to kiss him. He wanted to make the most of it, but kissing Alfred was so addictive. He was disappointed when Alfred broke the kiss again, even if it was to nip and suck under the crook of Arthur’s ear.

 

Arthur held onto Alfred, shivering and moaning, eyes closed and face slightly flushed. Alfred ran his tongue along the shell of Arthur’s ear before moving down to nip at the base of Arthur’s neck. Arthur groaned, wanting to just spew out a line of curses but none could ever really describe how good it really felt. He hadn’t been touched like this in so long he’d nearly forgotten how nice it could feel.

 

“You nn… like to take your time I see,” Arthur breathed, joking around with Alfred a bit but all in a good manner.

 

Alfred snorted softly. “I don’t want to rush this Artie,” he responded, hand tracing a circle on Arthur’s hips, getting another shiver out of him.

 

“I-I’m just ah… used to others being…. fast paced,” Arthur responded, completely distracted by the different sensations all going on at once.

 

Alfred frowned slightly. “Don’t talk about others with me here,” he said, nipping Arthur’s bottom lip. He kissed him more roughly and deeply down into the mattress until Arthur could barely breathe. Alfred pushed a hand gently up Arthur’s shirt, feeling the warm skin of his belly, and the soft strands of a faint happy trail. He took it slow as he kissed Arthur, hand sliding up his chest, feeling his lungs pushing it up and down. He broke the kiss. “Your heart’s beating so quickly,” he murmured against Arthur’s lips, feeling the other one breathe quickly. He looked so dazed but so warm and lovely, pink, and inviting under Alfred.

 

“It’s because of you,” Arthur admitted, trying to catch his breath after that kiss, and not trying to deny how nervous and wonderful Alfred was making him feel. It was sad to see himself turn into such a pile of mush when all they’d done was kiss a bit. They hadn’t even gotten to touching one another and Arthur wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to compose himself when it did come to that.

 

“Man… this is such a bummer,” Alfred said suddenly.

 

Arthur was shocked. Was this not how it was for him? Completely amazing? What was Alfred disappointed about? He could fix it. What had he done wrong?

 

Alfred dropped his head, resting on Arthur’s chest. “I want to go all the way tonight but we can’t…” he said, frustrated.

 

Oh. Arthur understood now. He felt himself physically relax. Alfred was just referring to the fact that they hadn’t gotten prepared at all, didn’t have any condoms, nor any lube… He swallowed, trying not to imagine right now having sex with Alfred because then he would have to get up and go to the mini mart and… “We…. we can still do other things...” he murmured, running a hand through Alfred’s hair.

 

Alfred lifted his head, meeting Arthur’s eyes. “Yeah…?” he said, drawing it out with a husky breath.

 

Arthur nodded, mouth going dry. The look on Alfred’s face was full of desire and Arthur knew his own face mirrored the same emotions.

  
Alfred resumed what he’d been doing with his hand, kissing Arthur’s cheek. “You tell me to stop if you feel uncomfortable and I’ll stop…” He kissed the corner of Arthur’s mouth. “If you don’t like something tell me, and I’ll stop…” He kissed Arthur on the lips. “Anything at all, okay?”

 

Arthur nodded again. “Nn… yes. The same for you too, Alfred,” he said softly. “Anything at all.”

 

“Will do,” Alfred breathed. His fingers splayed across Arthur’s chest and he gently reached to tweak at a nipple. He pushed Arthur’s shirt up towards his neck, then over his head as he helped Arthur take it off. He ducked down, mouth finding Arthur’s other nipple. Arthur squirmed for a second, the sensation going straight to his cock. He groaned, hands on Alfred’s shoulders. Alfred moved further down Arthur’s stomach, swirling his tongue around his navel while he shimmied Arthur’s pants down. Arthur lifted his hips, helping Alfred. When they were out of the way enough Arthur could feel Alfred’s breath ghosting against his boxers and he shivered. He was suddenly a bit cold which was slightly appalling to him because what Alfred was doing should have been making him hot but there he was, shivering and wanting to pull the blankets up over himself.

 

“Sh-should we turn on the heater…?” he asked.

 

Alfred lifted his head, seemingly previously focused on other things. “Are you cold?” he asked in disbelief.

 

Arthur nodded. “Well you’re still fully clothed and I’m being stripped of my layers here so yes… yes I am.”

 

“Way to inspire some confidence in me.”

 

“It’s not your fault, honestly- you’re doing great.”

 

Alfred laughed. “You make it sound like this is my first time and you’re coaching me through every step.”

 

“That’s not what I… it wasn’t like that,” Alfred defended himself. Things were starting to take a downhill turn and Arthur wondered if he kept running his mouth, would Alfred decide against doing anything with Arthur at all?

 

“You crank the heat up every time we go to bed and then I wake up in the middle of the night on fire,” Alfred said. “No heater.”

 

“But-”

 

Alfred tugged down Arthur’s boxers, pulling them and the pants off of Arthur’s legs. Arthur gripped the sheets with his hands, shivering more. Before he could think to protest Alfred’s wet, hot, oh so wonderful tongue was running up the length of Arthur’s member. Arthur groaned, shutting up about the heater immediately. He knew that had been Alfred’s intentions and decided he would get back at him later.

 

Alfred held Arthur’s hips, fingers prodding and sliding, gripping and holding onto them as swiveled his tongue along the tip. Arthur shuddered, that place especially sensitive for him. Alfred continued to tease Arthur until he was squirming for more, legs trying to push up but Alfred’s hands kept them in place.

 

“I need you to spread your legs,” Alfred suddenly said, hands wrapping around Arthur’s thighs and gently tugging them apart.

 

“What?” Arthur breathed, surprised. He complied and with much embarrassment spread his legs for Alfred. Alfred’s gaze traveled up the length of Arthur’s body and Arthur shivered.

 

“More,” Alfred said.

 

Arthur felt his face redden once more. “They- you don’t need them to be open that much!”

 

Alfred smirked, trailing a finger down Arthur’s hard and aching length. “C’mon Artie… This place wants some attention…”

 

Arthur really was going to kill the bastard. He used his hands to spread his legs more, glancing at Alfred and swallowing at the look on his face.

 

Alfred moved back in and took Arthur into his mouth. Arthur moaned, the contact feeling absolutely, positively grand. He let Alfred set the pace and the motion, Alfred seemingly knowing just where he liked it. After a while Alfred’s hands coaxed Arthur’s hips to move, his fingers touching and brushing along the inside of his thighs, across his hip bones, around the base of his cock. Arthur gently thrusted into the heat and wetness of Alfred’s mouth, feeling his member brush along the roof. Alfred’s tongue gently pressed back and forth on Arthur’s member and he knew at this rate he wasn’t going to last long.

 

If his moans were anything to go by, that was. Arthur had never really considered himself a vocal person until Alfred came along. But to make matters worse, Arthur had no idea how thin the walls were and if anybody or everybody could hear him. He bit his lip, whimpering and panting, and breathing, and half cursing-half-chanting Alfred’s name.

 

Alfred’s lips wrapped around the shaft and Arthur felt a twinge in his stomach. The heat from his member was spreading to the rest of his body and he felt a slight sweaty-ness to his back. He looked down the length of his own body, seeing Alfred looking up at him, meeting his gaze through half-lidded eyelids. Alfred winked before taking Arthur further into his mouth and Arthur was completely finished.

 

“Alfred I’m…” Arthur’s body tensed up as he released into Alfred’s mouth, let out a strangled cry that cut off into a long moan. He was filled with the pleasure and sensation of cumming, body relishing how good it felt all over. Breathing harshly, Arthur pushed his hips up to ride the last of the orgasm. He sunk back into the bed, body relaxing and head lolling to the side. He felt his hot breath against his own shoulder, his one hand relaxing its grip on the bed sheets. He brought a hand up next to his face, once last shiver filling him until he was just trying to catch his breath and come back to his senses.

 

He was slowly aware of Alfred pressing kisses to the side of his length, kissing his inner thighs, hips, stomach, anything within reach. Each kiss was delicate and light. Alfred’s eyes were on Arthur with a sort of fondness and amusement.

 

He kissed his way back up Arthur’s chest, sucking at a nipple briefly before his lips kissed the side of Arthur’s neck. He let out a breathy laugh against Arthur’s skin.

 

“What is it…?” Arthur asked, voice hoarse.

 

Alfred pulled back. “Hm… just thinking that I literally blew you away,” Alfred replied, a triumphant sort of smirk on his face.

 

Arthur whacked him on the arm. He could feel Alfred’s cock pressed against his thigh. Arthur managed to sit himself up, Alfred moving back so he could.

 

“Is it my turn?” Alfred asked, sitting there expectantly.

  
“Only if you keep your mouth closed,” Arthur teased.

 

“You wanted it open just a minute ago,” Alfred reminded Arthur.

 

“Well at least then it was too preoccupied to say anything,” Arthur shot back.

 

Alfred tugged on Arthur’s arm and pulled him into another kiss. Arthur could taste himself on Alfred’s tongue and shuddered a bit. He supposed that was payback for his comment. When they broke the kiss Arthur met Alfred’s eyes before gently reaching down and tugging on Alfred’s shirt. He was still fully dressed while Arthur was completely naked, and that needed to change. He slipped it over Alfred’s head, tossing it with his own clothes. He sat himself up onto his knees and began to run his hands down from Alfred’s shoulders to his waist, feeling every centimeter of skin and hair on his chest and stomach. A dirty blond happy trail led down past the waistline of Alfred’s pants.

 

Alfred shifted from his position so Arthur could get his pants and underwear off. He sat up on his knees now, Arthur in front of him, glancing up at him through his eyelashes.

 

Placing gentle kisses against Alfred’s neck, Arthur pulled Alfred closer to him. He drew their bodies up against one another, hands soothing across the expanse of Alfred’s back. He met Alfred’s lips and they kissed briefly before Arthur moved back to leave a trail of marks along Alfred’s chest. He nipped and sucked at the crook of his neck, his collarbone, the shell of his ear. His hands dipped lower and lower with each mark until he was squeezing at Alfred’s thighs, feeling the tense muscle there. Alfred was lightly holding Arthur’s backside, his lips brushing against Arthur’s shoulder as he buried his face there.

 

Arthur could hear a groan as his hand wrapped around Alfred’s member and squeezed. He wanted to hear more sounds from Alfred so he teased him by letting go, fingers now only slightly trailing along the length of it. He heard Alfred make a sound of protest. He reached to thumb the tip but Alfred stopped him. He caught Arthur’s hand in his own. “Not there…” he muttered. “Too sensitive- it hurts.”

 

Arthur nodded. Alfred guided his hand to the base. Arthur used one hand to continue the motion, and with his other he reached under to fondle the balls. Arthur could feel Alfred lift his hips up into Arthur’s touch and took that as a sign that what he was doing felt all right. He pumped him, keeping a firm yet not too tight of grip. He pressed kisses to Alfred’s chest, swirled his tongue around a nipple, gently nipping it before moving down more.

 

He took his time to tease the length with his tongue, going slow and pulling away to place gentle kisses to it. He could hear Alfred humming in desperation, wanting more. Arthur continued to fondle the base of Alfred’s member before ducking under to take a ball into his mouth, sucking on it. He could hear Alfred groan above him. His thoughts flashed back to Alfred masturbating in the bathroom and the sounds Alfred had made. He watched him now, taking in the sight of Alfred’s pleasure-filled expression. Alfred smelled even stronger of shower and soap here and Arthur could imagine him in the shower washing himself.

 

He slowly took Alfred into his mouth, waiting a moment and making sure he wasn’t going to gag on Alfred, then guided Alfred’s hips, showing him he could thrust. He used his hands to keep the pace of Alfred’s hips under his control, lips and tongue pressing and soothing over and along Alfred’s length as he sucked him off. He let one side of Alfred’s hips go to resume where he’d been fondling his balls. He squeezed lightly, tugged gently, played with them as he listened to Alfred moan. The sounds made Arthur groan around Alfred’s cock, sending vibrations through.

 

He glanced up at him, seeing Alfred was watching him with that look of desire and pleasure. He was flushed and Arthur knew he too wouldn’t last long. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only one who had been feeling too good. When Alfred came, he released with a grunt, hand grabbing in Arthur’s hair and holding him there as he rocked his hips into Arthur’s mouth.

 

Arthur let him ride it out before pulling away, swallowing, and pushing past the filmy taste in the back of his throat. Alfred pulled him back up and they kissed languidly, slowly, fingers touching each other until they were once more laying down on the sheets.

 

They were facing one another, the yellow and dim light of the hotel room shining on each other’s flushed and sweaty skin. Alfred wrapped an arm under Arthur, letting Arthur use it as a pillow, and laid his other over top of him. Their hair spilled across the pillows, bodies wrinkling the sheets as they laid nearer to one another.

 

Arthur reached up to gently trace Alfred’s lips with his finger tips. Alfred caught Arthur’s hand in his own and they intertwined their fingers, just watching one another for a while.

 

That is, until Arthur stuck his cold feet on Alfred’s legs, watching the other hiss.

 

“I honestly don’t know how you’re cold,” Alfred said.

 

“This could have been avoided if you’d turned on the heater earlier.”

 

“I doubt it.” Alfred yawned, settling down into the bed, looking as if he could fall asleep right then and there.

 

Arthur wiggled down enough to grab a bed sheet, pulling it out from underneath Alfred’s legs and over the two of them. Alfred reached over them to click off the hotel light.

 

There was another hiss in the dark. “Okay can you seriously stop putting your cold body parts on me?”

 

“Do you want me to put my hot ones on you instead?”

 

“I don’t think you have any to be- ow! What was th- hey, hey stop that!”

 

“Nope.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7 notes: i like to make notes to plan out what i want to happen in future chapters or like playing around with ideas and i was looking through them and for this chapter all i’d written was “blow job hand job scene yes” like LOL why did i put that yes at the end? was i really excited? yes. yes me. haha. it was really late.   
> so here’s ur first glimpse of some nsfw i’m sorry it’s so awful T-T i never write this stuff
> 
> nsfw i feel is like... is this what the kiddies want these days? will this appease you?
> 
> i really cant believe i'm posting this   
> it's so embarrassing


	8. Chapter Eight

Arthur woke up in the middle of the night shivering. Alfred had rolled away from him to the other side of the bed, and the sheets had been pulled down and almost completely off it. He felt sticky and frozen and his teeth chattered as he sat up. He stayed still for a moment, feeling a sense of realization dawn on him. He reached up to touch his lips. He’d actually gotten to kiss Alfred, to taste him, to touch him, and do more than that. It wasn’t a dream and Arthur felt the impact of the realization hit him that he could do those things again and again and some part of him never wanted it to stop.

 

But what if this was just a quick fling for Alfred? What if this was something he was looking forward before he graduated, and then once he had he’d run off and dump Arthur. Arthur was stricken with panic, and then with confusion. He knew he liked Alfred, but how much? Yes he’d wanted to touch him but that was simply the initial physical attraction. And then, spending what limited time together… had there even been a chance for any emotional feelings to develop? They hadn’t even gone out on a date yet… That one trip to Denny’s didn’t count. They hardly knew each other. They’d just met. Arthur didn’t even know Alfred’s birthday or his last name or, or, or anything at all.

 

He got out of the bed, strutting over to the other side of the room, pushing the curtain aside to look out into the dark parking lot. And despite all that, Arthur still wanted to be with Alfred, to get to know him more, to not let him go so easily. They’d gotten a brief glimpse into each other’s past earlier that night… and he knew the point of dating _was_ to get to know the other person but what if Alfred didn’t actually want to date him too? What were they?

 

Arthur cranked up the heat, trying to dispel such negative thoughts from his mind. This wouldn’t do him any good at this rate. He went back over to the bed, laying back down next to Alfred, but maintaining a bit of distance between them. He sighed a bit, telling himself he just needed to go back sleep and talk to Alfred about things more thoroughly in the morning.

 

When Arthur woke up in the morning though he found that Alfred had already left. He hadn’t even felt him get out of the bed or heard him getting ready around the hotel room. There was a sinking feeling in his gut. Had Alfred intentionally done his best not to wake Arthur up so as not to have to confront him? Had he, upon waking, regretted what they’d done?

 

Arthur slowly roused himself from the bed, making his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and shower and get ready. He felt sluggish and still cold, even though the room was still being heated. He took too hot of a shower, going slow and trying to process what he could say to Alfred.

Today was the day they would return to their apartments. They could stay one more night in the hotel but what was the point?

 

Arthur couldn’t help but feel that all of that happiness he’d felt was now a sour sadness, making him think awful thoughts. Thoughts of Alfred turning him away at the door, leaving without saying a word, never talking to him again. Arthur didn’t want to think the worst of Alfred- he couldn’t. He couldn’t imagine Alfred would ever use someone like last night and then dump them. There had to be other reasons…

 

Arthur looked up into the mirror, meeting a pair of tired green eyes. He sighed. Alfred had said he had forgiven him but it still didn’t change the fact that Arthur had been the one at fault, and it didn’t change the fact that he felt guilty and unsure. Arthur moved back into the hotel room and saw…

 

“Alfred?”  
  


Alfred stood there sheepishly grinning, holding a box of something in one hand, and a bouquet of flowers. “Hey Artie,” he said, setting down the box. “I thought you would still be sleeping… I didn’t expect you to be showering when I got back, but I’m glad you didn’t leave yet. I was trying to be quiet and quick.” He glanced at Arthur who was currently only wearing a towel around his waist.

 

Arthur was shocked and confused… So… Alfred hadn’t snuck off? He felt so stupid. He’d been thinking such awful thoughts while Alfred had been off buying him flowers and breakfast. Arthur felt tears spring to his eyes, dripping down his cheeks.

 

It was Alfred’s turn to be shocked. “A-Artie? Are you okay?” Alfred laid the flowers down on the TV stand, moving towards Arthur. “What happened… did you hurt yourself? Are you feeling sick?” Alfred’s face looked concerned and worried and Arthur was an awful human being- it just made him cry more.

 

“I-I’m so sorry,” he blubbered out, probably looking like an awful mess.

 

Alfred reached to grab Arthur’s shoulders. “Sorry? About what?”

 

Arthur shook his head, sniffing.

 

“Here here… sit down…” Alfred lead Arthur to the bed, making him sit there. He sat next to him, brushing a tear off his cheek. “Artie… It’s okay…” He smiled at him slightly, trying to get Arthur to cheer up a bit.

 

“Was it something I did?” Alfred asked and Arthur shook his head. “Okay well that’s good. Is it something you did?”

 

Arthur nodded.

 

“Did you hurt yourself?” Alfred asked, checking over Arthur’s body to make sure he was all right.

 

“N-no,” Arthur sniffed, reaching up to try and stop his tears. He hated crying in front of others. Why was Alfred treating him so gently? Why was he not freaked and grossed out by Arthur’s sudden emotional display? Arthur supposed this was like his first meeting with Alfred who’d been openly sobbing.

 

“Is this about last night?” Alfred asked.

 

“N-not really…” Arthur confessed. It was related but it wasn’t like he regretted last night or had done something he didn’t want to.

 

“Not really…?” Alfred said, confused. “You didn’t feel pressured did you…?”

 

“No… I-I wanted to… last night I p-promise…” Arthur took a deep breath, let it out shakily.

 

Alfred took Arthur’s hand in his own, squeezing it gently. “It’s okay…” He brushed his thumb across the top of Arthur’s hand. “Take your time…”

 

Arthur managed to calm himself down but he knew he couldn’t just not talk to Alfred now that he’d cried right in front of him. And besides, he needed to set things straight and figure out what it was they were exactly and where they stood. What Alfred wanted and if he wanted this to be more than it was? If the flowers and what Arthur could see was donuts were anything to go by, it was safe to say Alfred did have some “romantic” feelings. Enough to get out of bed early in the morning to go secretly get it for Arthur.

 

“You said you liked me…” Arthur started.

 

Alfred nodded. “Yea? I like you a lot, Artie.”

 

“This… us… are we… dating now…?” Arthur asked, meeting Alfred’s eyes now.

 

Alfred was silent for a second. “Well… to be honest… I want us to be Artie… Especially with last night… I don’t think you know how much I really do like ya… I didn’t… Well I had hoped this wouldn’t be a one time thing. I wanted to do more and I wanna be with you more Artie… I didn’t expect it when I first met you but… well geez… When I met you things were a bit more hectic… But you were really awesome about the whole busted pipe thing. You really helped me out and were honest with me upfront. You given me rides to places and… and I think you’re cute… and kind and grumpy and I like arguing with you. I know that’s weird and I already said that but I like talking to you and… and…” Alfred sighed. “And I don’t like the thought of you being with other people… especially Francis.” Alfred seemed frustrated. “I told you this already… are you still unconvinced?”

 

Arthur listened to all Alfred had to say. He felt embarrassed, and ashamed. He wasn’t as good as Alfred made him sound. “I don’t know why you think Francis and I have anything together… I’m sorry I’m so doubtful… This is a first time for me.”

 

“Well he wass was touching on you a lot… Kissing and cupping your cheek,” Alfred said with a frown. “What was I supposed to think? None of my friends do that to me… What do you mean first time?”

 

Arthur shrugged a bit at the comment about Francis. “I don’t know… It’s how he’s always been.” He wiped a tear off his chin. “I’ve never really dated anyone before.”

 

“You seemed to really like talking with him too… You’ve never dated anyone before?”

 

“Well he is my childhood friend… and no, not exactly.”  
  


“Oh…” Alfred said, processing that. “Well we’re dating now.” He squeezed Arthur’s hand. “Okay?”

 

Arthur nodded. The two of them sat in silence for a minute or so. “Is there anything else you needed to say or ask me?”

 

Arthur thought about it. Alfred had confirmed that his doubts had all been false. He’d proven way more than enough that he was serious about this. Arthur felt his heart speed up at the idea of finally having a boyfriend. How old was he now? He didn’t want to think about it. He supposed he would have to tell Francis about this update. There was no way he could hide it from him any way.

 

“What do we do now?” Arthur asked.

 

“Do you mean like, right now or ‘right now’... Cause right now I think you might want to get dressed-” Alfred blushed- “and then get your ass back into bed and eat the donuts I brought you… I wanted you to have breakfast in bed. I even stole some orange juice from downstairs.”

 

“I’m pretty sure that orange juice is complementary…”  
  


“I _stole_ it,” Alfred reiterated with a bit of laugh. “Then I want you to not go to work and I want to spend our last day and night in this hotel together…”

 

Arthur laughed. “I don’t think that’s possible to be skipping work so early into the job.”

 

Alfred frowned. “Well at least the night then…”

 

“You remember we can go back to our apartments today correct? There’s no reason for us to stay tonight.”

 

“We’ve already paid for it and it’s too late to cancel without fees… If we go back to our separate apartments I’ll feel too distant from ya Artie. You wanna get away from me hm?”  
  
Arthur shook his head. “Of course not… I… I was worried… that after we went back to our regular lives you wouldn’t want to see me anymore…” Arthur looked down, fiddling with his towel. “I thought you would realize that… that you actually didn’t really want to be with me. You would graduate soon and then get a job and go somewhere far away and I would just be… here still.”

 

Alfred gently put a hand under Arthur’s chin, tilting his head up, and kissed him. “Even if I graduate and get a job, or we go back to separate apartments, I want to see you… I want to go on dates with you, and kiss you, and do all that sappy stuff you see in those romantic comedies, you know? So… Artie, I know we met under very strange circumstances, I know we haven’t gone on any dates, I know we’ve only spent a few days at a hotel together, but… would you please go out with me?”

 

Arthur laughed, nodding, and they kissed again.

 

THE END


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to take a minute to thank you all very much for reading this story and all the comments you guys made. I truly enjoy the comments and I hope that you all have liked this little ol' fanfiction of mine. 
> 
> I am currently working on a couple more but they're not finished yet. I hope to get the next one done and posted soon. It will be another USUK lol 'cause i'm trash and that's all I write... Anyway, thank you!

“Okay tonight at six, don’t forget,” Alfred said over the phone.

“I won’t. Goodbye,” Arthur said, hanging up. Alfred had told him he needed to be back to the hotel by six that night. Arthur didn’t know what he was planning but he was sure it was something very sappy. Arthur hadn’t known Alfred would have been such a sap. He spent the morning kissing on Arthur and getting him to eat the breakfast and Arthur had almost seriously decided to skip work. He couldn’t so early though into the job, though, and he had a lot of work to catch up on. Later if they planned for something else he would try to but for now… At least they had tonight at the hotel.

Through the morning part Arthur had felt particularly motivated and a bit like he was floating on a cloud. During his lunch break Arthur had called Francis, spewing pretty much all the details about what had happened. Francis had only been full of “I told you so’s” and “I knew it”, but he’d been very happy for Arthur.

Arthur thought back on the past few days and before meeting Alfred. Moving there had been a bit difficult for him in that it was a new job and a new town. He was still tight on money, but previously he’d just felt so weighed down and lousy. Now he felt having Alfred with him made things easier. He felt like he had a bit of support to lean on. Some of his apathetic-ness was leaving him, being replaced by something more lively. It made Arthur really glad he’d met Alfred, embarrassingly enough. Maybe he was really the sappy one.

When Arthur got back to the hotel room at six Alfred was there in the room, waiting for him. He had the flowers he’d given Arthur in a vase now, and he’d moved the furniture around. The small table that had been by the window was now in the middle of the room, the two chairs placed across from one another. There were some napkins and plastic silverware set up on the table, with the paper hotel cups. There was even a candle in the center of the table that was lit. Arthur decided that no, Alfred was definitely the sappiest one.

“I didn’t have much to work with,” Alfred told him.

On the desk was a bottle of wine sitting in the ice bucket. There were some chocolates decoratively placed around the wine, and next to that was a pizza.

“It’s not as romantic as I wanted it to be or as I imagined it, but I’m really broke and we’re in a hotel room so…”

“I just don’t know if this is gonna cut it,” Arthur joked. “The silverware has to be sterling silver and I’m not even going to get started on the lack of a table cloth.”

Alfred laughed dryly. “Ha ha very funny.”

He and Arthur set up the table with pizza on paper plates, Alfred pouring wine for the two of them. They took their time eating and drinking, refilling their cups a couple times. They didn’t get drunk but Arthur definitely felt the effects, making him filled with the warmth of the alcohol. Arthur got to know a lot more about Alfred through the dinner, and after the dinner too.

The two of them had managed to migrate from the table to one of the beds. They fiddled around with one another’s clothing, stripping it off and trying to touch one another as much as they could, lips bumping into one another. “This time… I’m prepared,” Alfred said, reaching into the drawer of the bedside table stand and picking out lube and condoms. Arthur looked up at him with flushed cheeks. Alfred moved back over Arthur and Arthur pulled him down into a kiss, arms wrapped around his neck.

 

“So did you get those things when you got the pizza?” Arthur asked in between kisses, referring to the condoms and lube.

“After I got it, actually. I almost forget it and I was like fuck- I was like five minutes from the hotel and had to turn around to find a pharmacy.” Alfred mouthed down the side of Arthur’s neck, feeling his pulse beneath his lips.  

“And then you came home and stuffed them in the bedside table drawer?” Arthur asked, amused, groaning softly as Alfred ran a hand up his shirt and pinched at a nipple.

“Well I knew- I hoped that we would be doing stuff on the bed. It seemed like a logical place to put it at the time. Why are you questioning me?” Alfred asked, as Arthur reached up and began unbuttoning his pants.

Arthur shrugged a bit. “I’m just giving you a hard time.”

“I can show you something else that’s hard,” Alfred replied, guiding Arthur’s hand to feel how hard his cock was through his pants. Arthur squeezed, sending a shiver through Alfred. He slipped his hand into Alfred’s now unbuttoned pants, down into his boxers to squeeze and fondle his length, feeling the solid weight in his palm.

 

“Did you get the glow in the dark condoms?” Arthur asked, playing with Alfred’s balls and sucking at a spot near his collarbone.

“Um… no? They only had plain ones, I think,” Alfred grunted, humming in response to Arthur’s hand. It felt good.  “Are you going to ask me questions about the lube and condoms the whole time? Would you like to know if it’s...nnh-” Alfred’s hips jerked forward- “oil or water based?”

“Sure,” Arthur responded, teasing Alfred.

“Water based,” Alfred responded. “I was going to go for silicone but… it said it was hard to wash off of beds and clothing- didn’t ahh… want to give the hotel staff a hard time.”

“You did your research then,” Arthur said, nibbling Alfred’s jaw line.

Alfred pulled back, giving Arthur a contemplative look. Arthur just showed him an innocent expression, as if he was doing nothing wrong at all.

“Shut up,” Alfred said, suddenly leaning down and kissing Arthur. He kissed him deeply into the bed, tongue tracing his lips, teeth gently catching his tongue, his own exploring and tasting Arthur. At least kissing Arthur got him to quiet down. Alfred undid Arthur’s pants, and pulled them down some, breaking the kiss only to get them completely off. When Arthur’s legs were free of the clothing Alfred leaned back down to kiss Arthur again.

Arthur responded eagerly into the kiss, feeling Alfred take hold of his hips and thighs again, spreading his legs and situating himself between him. He moved himself so his cock was situated against Arthur’s. Taking some lube he spread it on their members, then began to gently rock back and forth. Arthur matched his hips, moaning at the sensation of their members rubbing against one another. He wrapped his legs slightly up around Alfred’s waist, using them to trap Alfred against him and keep that wonderful friction going.

Alfred continued to thrust in that motion, leaning down to suck and tweak Arthur’s nipples, making Arthur a panting mess. Arthur gently cooed Alfred’s name, fingers seeking out his hot skin. He pulled and tugged at Alfred’s hips, wanting more contact. “More more more…” he chanted, breathing harshly against Alfred’s shoulder.

Alfred stopped his movements to get the lube again, maybe getting a little too excessive with it. He didn’t want to hurt Arthur though.

“You’ve done this before?” Alfred asked.

“Yes but it’s been a while.”

“You haven’t done anything with yourself?” Alfred asked.

“What- how do you think I masturbate?” Arthur asked, eyebrows furrowing.

Alfred shrugged. “I like to imagine it,” he admitted. “Do you imagine me too?”

“I don’t need to,” Arthur said, then immediately regretted it.

“What… why?” Alfred pulled back to look at Arthur’s face, seeing he wasn’t telling him everything. “Artie…” He adopted a serious tone, and Arthur knew Alfred would leave him like this, all teased and riled up but not let him release if he didn’t confess.

Arthur huffed. Both Francis and Alfred could read him too well, it wasn’t fair. He would never be able to get away to lying to the two of them ever. “I… possibly, maybe, sort of, actually did hear you masturbate,” Arthur confessed, smiling up at Alfred.

Alfred looked confused and then Arthur could see Alfred’s cheeks redden. “Y-you were awake?”

Arthur smiled more.

Alfred groaned, and not in the sexy sort of way. “I thought you were asleep!”

“Well I was… but then I woke up…”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”  
  


“What was I supposed to say? Alfred can you masturbate out here instead? How about I join you?” Arthur said teasingly.

“I was thinking more like, ‘Alfred please stop masturbating because I’m actually awake and not asleep like you might have thought’... Oh fucking… that’s so uncool… so embarrassing…” Alfred looked frustrated.

Arthur leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. “It was nice,” Arthur said.

“Then you heard me- oh god why didn’t you say anything?”

“I just told you-”

“No but like………” Alfred looked like he wanted to die. “I said your name,” he said softly.

Arthur looked surprised now. “You said my name?”

“I… what? You said you were listening-”

“... I fell asleep…. before you finished,” Arthur confessed, blushing a bit now.

Alfred’s jaw dropped open. It was very comical. “You _fell asleep_? You were listening to someone you hardly knew masturbate in the hotel bathroom and _you fell asleep_?”

“When you put it that way it doesn’t sound too grand but… I was tired. You were very nice though, very hot to listen to,” Arthur reassured him.

“I- You fell asleep! Apparently I wasn’t hot or interesting enough because my masturbating literally put you to sleep! Do you listen to porn as some sort of lullaby regularly?”

“No!” Arthur said defensively. “Look, can we get back to what we were doing before?” he asked, leaning up to kiss Alfred’s cheek again.

“You owe me now,” Alfred said.

“Owe you for what?”

“One masturbation- I wanna see you do it too.”

Arthur reddened. “Impossible!”

Alfred was grinning now. “Yeah… yeah Artie I wanna see it.” He had a smug look on his face and Arthur regretted telling Alfred. “If you don’t…” Alfred reached down to wrap his hand around the base of Arthur’s cock, watching Arthur shiver, “I’ll make sure you have a very long night.”

Arthur put his hands to Alfred’s shoulders, arms bent, groaning softly. Alfred just kept his hand there, head moving to mouth at Arthur’s nipple again. Arthur’s hips bucked up. “Please…”

“You gotta promise me,” Alfred murmured against his chest.

“Alfred…” Arthur pushed his body up more, trying to get Alfred to move, to do something, to stop teasing him.

“Still waiting on that promise…”

“F-fine…” Arthur whimpered. “I promise just… please _Alfie_ …” Arthur practically begged.

Arthur watched Alfred’s Adam’s apple literally move with his swallow, could see a look of absolute lust in his expression, blue eyes darkening. “Shit Artie…” Alfred lubed up his fingers and suddenly pushed Arthur’s legs up towards his chest. Arthur made a sound of surprise, body bending farther than Arthur was used to. Alfred lubed Arthur’s entrance, watching Arthur shiver at the coolness of the lube. He circled his fingers around the entrance, getting Arthur used to the sensation for a second and also warming the lube up a bit.

With a nod from Arthur Alfred pushed a single finger in, taking it slow and cautiously. He worked Arthur to stretch him, doing the same for the next two fingers, each taking longer than the first. Arthur could feel that uncomfortable burn and stretch, that aching pain he knew wouldn’t go away anytime soon. At least the lube and Alfred’s hand stroking his member helped to ease some of that sensation. Arthur clutched the bedsheets tightly in his fists, unable to really thrust his hips at all. Alfred’s hands felt good, strong, and warm, and Arthur couldn’t help but moan loudly. He sincerely hoped the neighbors could not hear them in the hotel room, but at least it was their last night there. Nobody had said anything to him about the previous night so maybe they were too afraid or just hadn’t heard.

“Alfred please now I want you-” Arthur said quickly in response to Alfred’s fingers hitting that spot in him. His whole body twitched with the sensation and while he wanted Alfred to fuck him silly with his fingers, he wanted him to fuck him more with his cock instead.

Alfred nodded, seemingly past his limit of waiting. He let Arthur’s legs go to get a condom on his length, lubing it up. He was getting ready to position himself when he seemed to have second thoughts. “Here-” He grabbed Arthur and suddenly flipped him. “It’ll be easier on you in this position,” Alfred said, Arthur now on his hands and knees. He felt Alfred pull his hips back, holding his own length and guiding it to Arthur’s entrance. Arthur grabbed a pillow to hold onto, shoving his face into it and biting his lip. Alfred began to slowly push in and Arthur’s legs trembled.

Once Alfred was finally fully sheathed in Arthur, he let out a grunt and Arthur could hear his breath speed up a bit. He knew Alfred was feeling really good right now and probably wanted to move, but he instead began to gently massage at Arthur’s hips and thighs, lightly brushing and stroking his member on and off, trying to get Arthur more comfortable. Arthur himself was digging his fingers into the pillow, body shuddering with the ache of the stretch.

“Move…” he said into the pillow, loud enough for Alfred to hear him.

“Are you sure?” Alfred asked, concerned.

Arthur pushed back his hips, letting Alfred know that he was absolutely ready. Alfred started up a slow pace, letting them both get used to one another. Arthur could hear by Alfred’s pants that he was feeling really good. Arthur was trying to get himself in a position where Alfred would hit that spot again, but it was difficult. His leg slipped a bit and he felt Alfred thrust deeper into him before. He moaned, resting his head into the crook of his arm, breathing harshly and drooling a bit on the bed sheets.

He felt his knees were going to have a bit of bed-burn from shifting so much, and he knew his body and back were going to be aching after this but it felt so good now. Alfred’s hands were manhandling his hips, holding, digging, pulling, probably leaving bruises as he used them as leverage to thrust into Arthur faster now. Arthur moaned Alfred’s name, closing his eyes. He let his whole body rock back and forth as Alfred thrusted again and again, sometimes deeper and harder than before.

“Shit Artie… you feel… really fucking good…” Alfred gasped, grunting and moaning above Arthur. “I’m not gonna last long… nh…”

Arthur shivered, suddenly jerking as Alfred thrusted into that sweet spot. A shudder ran from that spot to the tip of his toes and to the tip of his tongue. “There- again,” Arthur moaned quickly, not wanting Alfred to lose the spot.

Alfred complied and suddenly began to thrust faster without as much restraint, hitting the spot dead on. Arthur felt he could only enjoy the ride from there on, moaning and breathing harshly. He heard Alfred tell him not to hold back his voice, wanting to hear him, so Arthur did just that. It wasn’t long before Arthur cried out Alfred’s name as his whole body unraveled and he came. He released into the sheets, feeling Alfred’s body thrust a few more times before tensing up and stopping with him. Alfred came with a low groan, biting his lip and holding Arthur’s hips tightly.

The two of them collapsed, hot, sticky, sweaty messes into the mattress. Arthur was covered in lube and had fallen partially into his own cum but he didn’t really focus on that now. Alfred had pulled out of him, and the two of them lay spooned to one another, breathing the only sound in the room.

Arthur felt Alfred kiss the back of his neck then trail kisses down his shoulder. “How are you feeling?” Alfred asked.

Arthur hummed. “Really… really good,” he replied, not being able to describe how content he really was.

Alfred traced circles on the small of Arthur’s back, kissing his ear. “Round two?” he asked.

Arthur’s content faded away to shock. “What?” He heard Alfred laugh and knew then that Alfred had been joking. “Bastard,” he muttered.

Alfred hugged him from behind, still laughing. “I’ll give you a ten minute break, okay?”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “You’ll be asleep long before then,” he shot back.

“Hmm… well, you may be right about that,” Alfred responded.

The two of them fell silent, content to close their eyes and not think about anything but falling asleep. That is, until Alfred’s stomach grumbled.

“We just had pizza…” Arthur said in disbelief.

“And then I burned it all off having sex with you.”  
  


“You’re ridiculous.”  
  
“Says the one who tried fixing a busted pipe on his own,” Alfred said, raising his eyebrows.

“That was one time!” Arthur said.

Arthur’s phone suddenly went off. He reached over to the bedside table to pick it up, seeing it was Natalya. “Yes?” he said, answering and putting the phone on speaker phone so Alfred could hear as well.

“Hello Arthur, yes I just wanted to let you know that, unfortunately, another pipe has busted and well… It may be another week before you can move back in…” Natalya explained the rest to them. When she had hung up Alfred just wrapped an arm around Arthur.

“I guess we’ll have to extend our stay here then,” he said, nuzzling into the back of Arthur’s neck.

“We’re going to be so fucking broke and homeless by the end of this,” Arthur groaned.

“That’s true but at least we’ll have each other now.”

“How long do you think the hotel would let us stay until they kicked us out?” Arthur asked.

“I have no idea but maybe it will be so long that by the time they’ll have sent us the bill for repairs I’ll have graduated and will actually have a real job.”

“Maybe I should keep breaking things,” Arthur mused.

“Hey now Artie, don’t get any ideas like that in your head.”

“What sort of ideas _should_ I get into my head? Hm…? Alfie?”

Arthur felt Alfred huff behind him. He was suddenly rolled onto his back, Alfred over him once more. “I really was going to go to bed but now I can’t…” Alfred leaned down to capture Arthur’s lips with his own, kissing him roughly. “That damn nickname…”

  
“Wait-” Arthur tried to say between kisses. “Alfred we really shouldn’t we-”

“Nope!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just all smut lol. And some humor. Follow for some more soft humor smut.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1 Notes: Darkrooms are either wet or dry. Wet darkrooms have the little chemical bins while dry ones don’t have them and usually are set up for exposing print paper, etc. So I thought this was funny that Alfred’s wet darkroom is LITERALLY a wet darkroom ahahahaha I’m so hilarious ahaahhaa poor alfie.


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